Have Gun, Will Murder
by SnowPrincess88
Summary: Based on the 70s TV show. Frank and Joe head to an Oklahoma cattle ranch to investigate instances of vandalism, never imagining that what seemed like a such a trivial case could quickly become so violent...and deadly.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **This story is based on the 70s TV show. It follows my previous two. You can catch onto what is happening without reading them, but if you're interested in any backstory, that's where you'll find it. Some of the canon from the TV show (in case you've been busy since 1979, or...gulp...weren't born): Fenton Hardy lost his wife when Frank and Joe were very young and Aunt Gertrude moved in to help raise them. Callie Shaw is Fenton's office assistant, but was never romantically involved with Frank. Chet Morton was a character in the series, but Iola was not. Vanessa Bender does not exist since the show pre-dates the "Casefiles" incarnation of the Hardy Boys. Frank had a thing for Nancy Drew during the entire series and Joe was unattached (except for the guest star of the week romance the writers always included. In short, the boy got around. LOL).

My self-indulgent series of stories begins with Season 3 of the show, since I could never swallow the Justice Department hiring two teenagers as special agents. I have also aged Frank and Joe to 23 and 22, respectively. As per my other stories, this one is also completely written and I will post a new chapter every other day. Thanks to my betas, Kenna and JD for all their help! Oh, and my sincere apologies to Glen Larson Productions and Universal Studios. The TV show belongs to them. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 1

"Hang onto his top leg, or he's gonna kick you where you don't want to be kicked, son!"

Joe Hardy glanced back at the white-haired cowboy giving the order, then held the calf's rear legs more firmly, while trying not to completely lose his balance in the process.

The cowboy on the other end of the calf had somehow managed to hold both the animal's front legs and head with very little effort. Joe sighed. He was positive he looked as incompetent as he felt.

Two additional cowboys swept in with syringes and a branding iron. In twenty seconds it was over.

"Okay, let him loose and jump back," the white-haired cowboy said. "They're young, but they are strong."

Joe did as he was told, and the little calf scampered away to be let out of the work area. Joe watched as he found his mother among the mooing cows in the holding pen and smiled. The cowboy was right. Those little stinkers were stronger than they looked.

"All right, son, you're next," the cowboy gestured, looking toward Joe's older brother, Frank.

Joe moved out of the way as Frank stepped forward. He gazed around and wondered how telling his girlfriend, Emily, that he would help her aunt and uncle figure out who'd been vandalizing their Oklahoma cattle ranch had gotten him smack dab in the middle of a calf-branding session.

He chuckled. This place could not be more different than Bayport. The wide open skies, the huge pastures, and the cattle. Lots and lots of cattle.

Joe sniffed the air and realized he was standing next to another pile of manure. Cattle did not smell good. Not to mention, they were loud. Louder than he ever imagined they could be. He was going to hear that chorus of mooing ringing in his ears all night long.

"Just hold onto his legs, right?" Frank asked, as another calf was let into the pen.

"You got it," the cowboy said with a nod, as the little calf approached.

Frank managed to get him to the ground and hold on, as the other cowboys repeated the vaccinating and branding.

Joe turned to where the ranch hands were moving more calves from the holding pen into the chute and pushing them forward. These guys worked hard. Joe couldn't imagine doing this every day. He already knew he was going to be sore tomorrow.

He shook his head. And he actually thought he was in pretty good shape. Until he'd arrived here, that is.

The cowboy directing the operation took off his gloves. He extended his hand first to Frank and then to Joe. "Well, for city boys, you ain't half bad. Thought maybe Ed had lost his mind when he told me he was sendin' you two to help, but I think you're gonna work out fine. Name's John, by the way."

"I'm Frank Hardy, and this is my brother, Joe," Frank said with a smile.

John nodded. "Great. Well, why don't you go get yourselves some chaps from the barn and a couple of hats and come back so we can finish these calves."

He gestured to a building not far from them and Joe headed in that direction with Frank close behind him.

"What do you think?" Joe asked his brother as they walked down the dirt path.

"I think we're going to get our butts kicked," Frank said.

"Yeah, no kidding." Joe walked another few feet, then said, "I hope we have enough time to try and figure out who's been sabotaging this ranch in between all our other chores."

Frank shook his head. "It might be tough." He reached for a pair of chaps hanging from a hook on the barn wall as he entered. "This is going to be interesting."

OOOoooOOO

Nancy Drew looked around the spacious cabin and smiled. It was perfect. She wasn't really sure how much "personal" time she was going to be able to have with Frank on this case, but the accommodations certainly exceeded all her expectations. An entire cabin for the four of them? She couldn't have come up with anything better. "This is gorgeous," she said to her hostess. "Has it always been here?"

"No," Susan Fairchild said. "We just finished it, actually." She opened the wood blinds covering the living room windows. "Our plan is to build five more so guests can come and have a hands-on ranching and farming experience."

"Wow, Aunt Susan," Emily Clark said, as she put her suitcase down. "I'm really impressed."

Susan smiled, and pushed a loose strand of gray hair behind her ear. "Well, I hope it will be okay. I'm sorry that the main house is such a mess. Renovations and all."

She walked forward. "Let me give you the tour. This, of course, is the living area. The kitchen is over there." She gestured to the right, where a spacious kitchen opened into the den.

"We stocked the fridge for you, but we really hope you'll eat your meals in the farmhouse with us." Susan opened a door off the living room. "This is one of the bedrooms. The second one is on the other side of the fireplace."

Nancy stepped inside and gazed around appreciatively at the queen-sized bed, piled high with pillows and a fluffy down comforter, and the stone fireplace on the wall opposite it. She smiled slyly, already planning out the fun she and Frank would have here. It had been almost a month since they'd spent any time at all together, and she'd missed him even more than she thought she would.

"There's a full bath attached to each bedroom, and a little patio through those sliding doors." She gave the girls an anxious look. "I'm so sorry about this. It doesn't seem right."

"What Aunt Susan?" Emily sounded concerned.

Susan bit her lip. "Well, having the boys stay in this cabin with you. I mean, it does have the two bedrooms, but I doubt they'll want to share a bed with each other."

Nancy caught Emily's warning head shake from across the room and swallowed the comment she was about to make.

"Do you think they'll mind terribly sleeping on the couches?" Susan asked.

"Um, no. I'm sure they'll be fine with it," Emily said.

Nancy bent her head down and disguised the laughter that bubbled up unexpectedly with a cough. She hoped it was convincing, but Emily was glaring at her.

"Oh, good. They're very comfortable couches, and they're quite large."

"It'll be fine, Aunt Susan. I promise," Emily assured her.

"I don't know, Em," Susan said. "Your mother trusts me to take care of you, and if she knew I had you staying in the same house with two young men..."

"Don't worry about it." Emily smiled. "Mom really likes Joe."

Susan sighed. "Well, if there's any problem, or you or Nancy don't feel comfortable being alone with those boys, you let me know. We'll work something out." She looked over at Nancy. "Are you all right, my dear?"

"F-fine," Nancy choked out, still trying to swallow her laughter.

"Oh, it's probably all the dust they're kicking up out there with the cattle. Let me get you a drink." Susan headed to the kitchen, and Nancy turned to Emily.

"Is she serious?"

"Very," Emily assured her. "She's a little on the prim and proper side. She'd absolutely have a heart attack right on the spot if she knew that my mother had no problems with me and Joe and...our relationship. So you'd better be on your best behavior."

Nancy grinned at her. "Then this is going to be a very interesting case. Especially when I tell Frank he's sleeping on the couch."

"That's mean," Emily said. She looked at Nancy with a gleam in her eye. "Let's do it."

OOOoooOOO

Frank and Joe headed back to the calf pens, wearing chaps, gloves and cowboy hats.

"Why do I feel just this side of ridiculous?" Joe asked.

"Because we are the furthest thing from cowboys on this ranch besides Emily and Nancy."

Frank laughed, as he reached the metal gate on the pen. He hoped he didn't look as idiotic as he felt. But he was pretty sure he did.

He stood with Joe and watched several of the other cowboys work the calves for a few minutes. Emily's uncle, Ed, approached them from the dusty path that ran alongside the pens.

"Whatcha think?"

"That it's a lot harder to be a cowboy than those John Wayne movies make it look," Joe replied.

Ed chuckled and spat in the dirt. "Yep."

"So," Frank began, "what can you tell us about the sabotage problems you've been having?"

Ed squinted at them in the bright noontime sunshine. "Probably not more than Susan's already let on." He shrugged. "I don't think it's really that big of a deal, but she's nervous."

"Do you really believe it's sabotage?" Frank asked.

"Not sure."

Ed looked on as his cowboys roped a calf around the neck. "Could just be a string of accidents." He pushed his hat back on his head. "Listen boys, I don't know what you two can do out here to solve our problems, but you sure are welcome company. We love our Emily, and we're always happy to have her and her friends visit."

He climbed over the fence and jumped down into the pen. "So you feel free to poke around all you like and we'll be happy to teach you all about ranchin' in the meantime." He walked into the middle of the pen then turned around. "You comin?"

Frank looked at his brother who grinned at him.

"After you," Joe gestured.

OOOoooOOO

"Did your aunt give you many details about what's been going on here?" Nancy asked, as she and Emily strolled along the path away from the cabin.

"Not really," Emily said. "She mentioned some of the equipment being vandalized and cattle let out of their pens. Things like that."

"Vandalized? What do you mean, exactly?"

"Um, I think she said something about a tractor engine being smashed, and some tires on a few pickup trucks being slashed."

"Okay, well there's no way those could be considered accidents." Nancy was thoughtful. It had to be someone who had access to the ranch. Someone who wouldn't look suspicious on the property or in any of the outbuildings. "Does she know why anyone would want to do this?"

"No," Emily replied. "That's the problem. This seemed to come up out of the blue. I mean, this ranch has been in my uncle's family for a long time."

Nancy nodded. "Then that's something we need to investigate. Why is this happening now?" She stopped and put her hand on Emily's arm. Not ten feet in front of her was Frank, leaning against the side of a cattle pen. He brushed a gloved hand across his forehead, tilting his cowboy hat back slightly. Nancy's heart skipped a beat. "Do you see what I see?"

Emily smiled as she looked into the cattle pens. "If you mean do I see Frank and Joe playing cowboy, then yes."

Nancy inhaled sharply. "Are they wearing...chaps?" Heaven help her. Frank turned around to loosen the rope around a calf and she felt a little dizzy at the sight. His cute bottom was made for wearing jeans and chaps.

Emily giggled. "Yes, they are. And very nicely, I might add."

"Be still my raging hormones." Nancy squeezed Emily's arm. "Let's go get a closer look at this."

The girls sauntered over to the cattle pens, and Nancy watched as Emily easily climbed up onto the metal bar fence and swung her legs over the top so she was sitting on it. Nancy wasn't sure she could accomplish that move gracefully, so she stepped onto the bottom bar and leaned her elbows over the top one instead.

OOO

Joe looked up with a smile when he saw Emily and Nancy approach. He also noticed that as soon as the cowboys saw the girls, the wolf whistles and teasing remarks began. He rolled his eyes.

"Hey, hey, now cool it, guys!" Ed called out. "This here's my niece, Emily and her friend Nancy. They're going to be stayin' with us for awhile, and I'd appreciate it if you'd all just put your eyes back in your heads and quit leering."

"Aw, you're no fun, boss," one of the cowboys called back.

"Hi, Emily!"

Joe turned around as a handsome blond cowboy with piercing blue eyes hollered out to Emily from across the pen.

Emily giggled. "Hi, Tim. How are you doing?"

"Great," Tim grinned at her as he neck-roped a calf on the first try. "How 'bout yourself, sweetie?"

Joe turned to stare at his girlfriend. What the hell? Who was this jackass and why was he calling Emily "sweetie"? And why did she look like she was enjoying it?

"Hey, Hardy! You better get that calf or he's gonna get you," Tim shouted.

Joe turned his attention back to grabbing the calf's leg, while Tim rode his horse over to the girls. Joe positioned himself so he could see exactly what Mr. Clint Eastwood was going to do next.

"Howdy, Miss," Tim greeted Nancy, lifting his hat from his blond hair. "Name's Tim Carlson."

Nancy was all smiles. "Nancy Drew," she replied.

"Well, Nancy Drew, it sure is nice to have you here." Tim grinned at her. "Our little Emily's sure got herself one gorgeous friend."

Nancy turned ten different shades of red and bowed her head. Joe shook his in disgust.

Tim winked at her. "And Jake over there agrees with me."

Joe nudged Frank and pointed as Nancy looked up across the pen where a handsome dark-haired cowboy smiled and nodded to her.

Joe's attention quickly switched back to his own girlfriend as Tim scooped Emily onto his horse in front of him. "Come on darlin', you can help me rope some calves."

Emily giggled and adjusted herself on his lap.

"What the hell is going on here?" Joe hissed to Frank as he let the little calf up off the ground.

Frank chuckled. "Looks like we're in the 'Wild West', Joe. I guess we'll have to fight for our women," he joked.

"Yeah, well nobody told me I was going to have to deal with 'Captain Biceps' out here," Joe said, and gestured to Tim who was easily roping a calf with one hand while holding Emily firmly in the saddle with the other.

"Relax, Joe. Emily loves you."

Joe smirked. "Well, I hope Nancy loves you just as much."

Frank turned his gaze to where Jake was leaning against the fence, chatting with a still blushing Nancy.

"Yeah, me too," Frank replied.

Joe turned his attention back to the new calf at hand, as he and Frank held him to the ground for his vaccines.

OOO

Twenty minutes later, Joe spotted Emily by the side of the barn. He took off his gloves and headed toward her, determined to figure out exactly who Cowboy Tim was and what Emily's relationship with him had been. He was hoping there was an off chance that Tim was her cousin, but he doubted it.

"Hey," Joe called out.

She turned as he approached.

"Remember me? The love of your life?"

She smiled at him, then reached out and hooked her finger into the front of his chaps. Pulling him forward, she leaned up against him until her mouth was inches from his. "Do you know that you are an incredibly sexy cowboy?"

"Really?" he replied. "I didn't even think you noticed I was out there."

She gave him a little kiss on the lips. "I noticed."

"Hmmm." Joe pushed his hat back. "Because it seemed to me like you were a little too preoccupied with the 'Lone Ranger.'"

She giggled and slid her hands around his waist. "If you're referring to Tim, I've known him since I was a little kid."

"Yeah, well, you're not a kid anymore," he replied. "And Tim has definitely noticed."

She giggled again and kissed him on the cheek. "Doesn't matter," she murmured.

"And why not?"

Emily pulled him closer. "Because he's no Joe Hardy."

Joe's heart melted as he wrapped his arms around her and kissed her deeply. She ran her hands up the back of his plaid shirt and he groaned. How on earth did he get so lucky? His cowboy hat fell off his head, as he lifted Emily up and twirled her around.

She pulled away laughing, and touched him lightly on the tip of his nose. "Got that, 'Mr. Love of My Life?'"

For a response, Joe bent his head down and kissed her again. "Can I ask one thing, baby?"

"What's that?"

"Stay out of his saddle."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Thanks so much for the reviews, Caranath, Zenfrodo, Jackie, Vinsmouse and Leya! I really appreciate it. Oh, and I also neglected to thank my real ranching friends who kindly let me visit and play cowgirl with them. And who are nice enough to only laugh at my incompetence when my back is turned...for the most part. LOL Thanks to everyone who is reading!

Chapter 2

"Thank you." Frank smiled at Emily's Aunt Susan as she handed him a hamburger. He walked over to the condiment table, added tomatoes, lettuce and cheese to it, then headed over to the picnic table in the farmhouse yard, where Nancy was eating lunch with several other cowboys.

"Hi, there," he said, sitting down next to his girlfriend.

"Hi," Nancy greeted him, before turning her attention back to Jake. "So, tell me more about the sabotage that's been going on around here."

Frank smiled. Nancy was a detective first and foremost. Nothing got in the way of the case.

Jake grinned at her. "And what sabotage would you be referring to?"

Nancy leaned in closer to him and rested her hand lightly on his arm. "Whatever it is that Susan's been talking about. She's quite upset."

Jake waved his hand. "It ain't nothing to worry about. Somebody's idea of a funny joke, I suppose."

"But hasn't there been vandalism going on?" She took a bite of her burger. "That doesn't seem very funny to me. Especially if it costs money to repair things."

Jake chuckled. "Well, it ain't nothing for a pretty little thing like you to get all worked up about." He took a swig of root beer. "You just let the men handle stuff like that."

Frank grinned as he popped a potato chip into his mouth. He knew that remark was not going to sit well with Nancy.

Nancy's voice was strained. "I'm not 'all worked up', Jake. I'm just curious."

"Um, honey?" Frank interrupted. "Susan wants to see you for a minute."

Nancy turned to look at him.

"She said it was urgent." Frank looked back meaningfully.

"Excuse me for a moment," she said to Jake as she stood.

"I'll come with you," Frank offered. "I need another burger."

The two walked off a little way, and Frank stopped, turning her toward him and resting his hands on her shoulders.

"Nan, you need to tread carefully. This is a different culture around here, and they don't do things the way you're used to."

"Meaning?" Nancy crossed her arms in front of her.

"Meaning these guys are just not going to take your role as a detective very seriously."

"Oh, and what I am I supposed to do about that?" She jerked away from him. "Sit around the farmhouse twiddling my thumbs and waiting for all you 'smart, strong, men' to take care of the problem?"

Frank lowered his head to disguise a chuckle. "No. You're going to have to be more clever." He pulled her back into him. "I don't think the direct questions are going to get you very far. Leave that to Joe and me. You do the undercover stuff, okay?"

She looked up at him resignedly. "Okay. But I'll hate it."

Frank grinned. "I know you will." He leaned in and kissed her forehead. "I love you."

"Love you, too," she replied with a sigh.

He started to walk back to the table. "Oh, and stay away from those cowboys. They're only looking for a roll in the hay."

She stuck her tongue out at him and smiled. "Does that include you, too?"

Frank winked at her and kept walking.

OOOoooOOO

"So, do you have any idea who might be behind the vandalism?" Joe asked Emily's aunt as she stood outside behind a long table piled high with food.

"Not a one." She smiled while handing a burger to a ranch hand.

"Well, when did you first notice it happening?"

"Hmm," Susan wiped her hands on her apron and turned to Joe. "Maybe a month ago."

"And there wasn't anything going on at the ranch then?" he continued. "Nobody angry about something? Nobody recently fired?"

"Nothing like that," she said. "That's what's so strange." She smiled as Frank wandered over to them. "But Emily's said such wonderful things about you two…I know you'll be able to help us."

"We'll do our best," Frank assured her.

"What about your ranch hands?" Joe asked. His eyes locked onto Tim, who was positioned next to Emily in the chow line.

Susan waved her hand. "I trust them all implicitly."

"Even him?" Joe pointed at Tim.

"Tim Carlson?" Susan asked. "He's like a son to us. Wonderful young man." She smiled. "He always looked after Emily when she would come out here for summer vacation. He's five years older than she is, but he took great care of her."

"Yeah, I'm sure he did," Joe muttered, as he watched Tim help Emily with a large pan of barbequed beans she was serving.

"Well don't worry Susan, we'll get to the bottom of this," Frank said.

He grabbed Joe by the elbow and pulled him away from the crowd. "Joe, we're here on a case. Let's not get sidetracked with personal issues, okay?"

"I'm not." Joe shook off his brother's hand. "I'm just trying to get background information on everyone who works here."

He ignored Frank's warning look and strolled over to the chow line. He stepped close to his girlfriend and put his arm around her. "Hi, baby. Need some help?"

Emily smiled at him, as she stirred the beans with a large metal spoon. "Oh, there you are. Did you get something to eat?"

He leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. "I did. Thanks for asking."

She giggled. "Good. I need to make sure you're well fed." She dished up another spoonful of barbequed beans onto a cowboy's plate.

"Hey, do you have a minute?" Joe asked. "I want to talk to you before I go back to work."

"Yeah, I think so." She turned her head. "Tim? Could you watch the beans for me?"

"Sure, darlin'," he said, smiling at her.

"Thanks." Emily reached for Joe's hand. "Okay, let's go."

Joe led her away from the chow line, and over to a spot where he knew Tim could still see them perfectly. He wanted to send a message to Mr. Cowboy that would be loud and clear. Emily was his. Back off.

Emily giggled as Joe put his hands on her waist and drew her close to him. "What did you want to tell me?"

"That I love you," he said, as he pulled her in for a long kiss.

"Mmmm," she murmured as they broke apart. "I love you, too."

"Good." He tangled his hands in her long, dark hair as he kissed her again, deeply and passionately.

"Wow," Emily said, a little breathless. "What's gotten into you?"

Joe grinned at her. "All the fresh air, I guess."

They were interrupted by a cowboy riding up into the yard. "Hey, the fence line in the south pasture's been cut. The cattle are running in with the Brookings' herd."

It seemed to Joe like a stampede occurred right on the lawn, as cowboys left their food, and jumped up to race for their horses. Emily's Uncle Ed yelled out to Joe as he passed. "You ride?"

"Yeah, I can ride," Joe told him.

"Then get to the barn and get yourself a horse. We're going to need help." He galloped off.

Frank ran over to Joe. "Come on, it sounds like more vandalism. I want to see this fence."

Joe patted Emily on the arm and headed after Frank, hoping this might be an early break in the case. Not that anything like that ever happened with their cases, but there had to be a first time. Why not now?

OOOoooOOO

Frank and Joe rode into what looked like complete chaos in the south pasture. Cowboys and cattle were running in every direction. Frank approached Ed, who was over by the broken fence line.

The rancher seemed to be taking all of this in stride, Frank thought. Or at least if he was mad, he wasn't showing it. He wasn't sure Ed was someone who got too worked up about anything. Which meant that whoever was doing the vandalism was probably going to have to try harder if intimidating Ed Fairchild was his goal. Frank filed that thought away as he dismounted from his horse.

Holding the reins, he bent down to inspect the damage to the fencing. "Wow, whoever did this really did a number on it, didn't he?"

Ed shook his head. "They wanted to make it an all day project, that's for sure," he said, kicking a post which had been uprooted and was now lying on the grass.

"How long would you say this would have taken?" Joe asked from his saddle.

Ed scratched his head. "Fifteen, twenty minutes, maybe."

"Long enough for someone to notice," Joe noted.

"Doubt it," Ed said. "We're out in the middle of nowhere."

"Your cowboy noticed."

"Yeah, long after the fact." Ed leaned down and gathered up the fencing wire. "It would've taken the cattle some time to find the opening. Who knows when this happened? Could've been yesterday."

Another man about Ed's age rode up along the opposite side of the fence. He pulled up on his horse and stopped. "Ed," he greeted him with a touch to the brim of his hat.

"Pete," Ed responded.

"Kind of a mess, ain't it?"

"The boys'll sort 'em all out," Ed said, standing up. "Frank and Joe Hardy, this is Pete Brookings. He owns the spread next to ours."

"How do you do?" Frank asked, shaking his hand.

"Friends of yours, Ed?" Pete asked, as he took Frank's hand, then Joe's.

"They are now. They're friends of Emily's," Ed said.

Pete nodded. "Well, then welcome." He looked at Ed. "I'll send some boys out here. Hopefully we can finish by nightfall." He lifted his hat to the men and rode off.

"So, what are they doing over there?" Frank asked, as he watched the cowboys riding among the herd.

"They're separating them based on their brands." Ed pointed. "Take a look at Tim there. He's one of the best you'll ever see. Watch him handle that horse."

Ed turned to Frank. "That's one of our cutting horses. They have to be able to stop and start on a dime, anticipating every move that cow's going to make."

"Oh, so he's cutting her out of the herd, then," Frank observed.

"Yep. Now he chases her away from the other cows, and she'll head back to where she belongs. The other cowboys will help guide her."

Joe nodded grudgingly. "Yeah, he's good."

"Do you mind if we look around for clues?" Frank asked Ed, as he pulled a camera out of his pocket.

"Not at all. Search away," Ed told him, as he rode off to meet a pickup truck arriving with replacement posts and supplies.

OOOoooOOO

Nancy helped Emily finish cleaning up the last of the lunch buffet, then followed her into the farmhouse to find Susan rinsing off the serving dishes.

"Oh, thank you so much girls." Susan hung her dishcloth on the drainer. "I can't tell you how much I appreciate the help."

"Do you feed them like this every day?" Nancy wondered.

"No, not every day. Maybe two or three times a week."

Susan smiled at the girls as she took off her apron. "Ed and I don't have children of our own, so I guess we've kind of adopted our cowboys." She put her arm around her niece. "And Emily, of course."

Nancy smiled back. Emily's aunt seemed to be sweet and sincere, as well as old-fashioned. She obviously had a big heart. Nancy couldn't imagine she had enemies.

Emily kissed her aunt on the cheek. "Um, Aunt Susan, Nancy wants to ask you some questions about what's been going on around here, okay?"

"Certainly. Why don't we sit down?" She gestured to the old-fashioned nineteen-fifties' style Formica kitchen table that stood in the center of the room.

Nancy took a seat, and Emily excused herself. "I'll go take care of the chickens for you, Aunt Susan. I know you haven't had a chance to do that yet."

Susan smiled at her, while Emily slipped out the back door.

Nancy turned to Susan, eager for some answers about the case. "So what can you tell me? Is there anyone I should be watching? Someone you might suspect?"

"Oh dear, I don't know." Susan furrowed her brow. "I can't imagine that it's someone we know."

"Well, maybe it's not," Nancy told her. "What would really help is a motive. Why do you think this is happening?"

Susan looked worried. "Nancy, I don't know."

Suddenly, the screen door burst open, and Emily dashed inside. "Um, Nance? Can I see you for a minute?"

Both Nancy and Susan rose from their chairs.

"What is it, honey?" Susan asked her niece.

"Oh, nothing to worry about. Why don't you wait in here? We'll be right back."

"Emily...you're hiding something from me."

She sighed. "I don't want to worry you, Aunt Susan."

Nancy started to walk to the door. She knew something was wrong by the tone in her friend's voice. "Come on, Emily. Explain on the way."

"Fine." Emily headed out the door and led Nancy and Susan to the side of the chicken coop. There, spray painted in red lettering, were the words "Give Up Now".

Susan put her hand up over her mouth and gasped. "What on earth does that mean?"

Emily put her arm around her aunt. "I don't know."

Nancy entered the chicken yard and examined the paint. "It's still wet." She held up her finger stained red. "This just happened within the past ten minutes or so. What time is it?"

Susan looked at her watch. "One-thirty."

Nancy nodded. "Okay, that gives us something to go on." She turned to Emily. "You'd better call the police. I'm going to stay and investigate until they arrive."

Emily nodded and escorted her aunt back to the house, while Nancy continued poking around the chicken coop.

Making a face, she got down on her hands and knees and peered underneath the coop. A Rhode Island Red startled and squawked loudly at the intrusion. Nancy jumped back, hitting her head on the bottom of the coop.

She gave herself a mental shake as she rubbed her head. It was only a chicken. She needed to quit acting like a baby. Nancy bent down and looked again as the hen ran past her, but found nothing.

She exited the enclosure, and began searching around. Something caught her eye in the tall grass to the north side of the pen. As she approached, she noticed a spray paint can with a bright red lid next to it. "Bingo," she said.

Without disturbing the evidence, she continued her search. After fifteen minutes she sighed, convinced the culprit had left nothing more behind.

She headed back toward the coop, to find Emily and a man who appeared to be a police officer accompanying her. Nancy rushed forward to greet them.

"Nancy, this is Sheriff Payne," Emily began. "He was coming to see my uncle and was already in the driveway when I took Susan back to the house. Sheriff, this is Nancy Drew. She's one of the detectives I've been telling you about."

An amused smile crossed the sheriff's face. He extended a calloused hand to shake Nancy's. "Howdy there, Miss Drew. A detective, huh?"

"Yes, sir," she replied. She knew right away this guy wasn't going to take her seriously at all. Apparently, women's lib hadn't quite made it all the way out to the rural ranching communities of the mid-west. Well then, she would just have to show him how competent she was.

Nancy began walking toward the coop. "As you can see by the sticky paint, this occurred fairly recently. I also believe it was done hastily, based on the haphazard lettering, and the drip marks." She gestured toward the grass. "The culprit left the paint can over there, which also indicates that he must have been in a hurry. I think he just tossed it over there while he was making his getaway."

Sheriff Payne scratched his head and smiled. "Uh, huh." He climbed into the chicken yard and examined the graffiti. Turning to Emily, he said, "You know anyone who's got a grudge against your aunt and uncle? Cause I sure don't."

"No, sir. They get along so well with everybody."

The sheriff nodded. "Why don't you show me this paint can?" he asked Nancy.

She led him to the spray can, which he dropped into a paper sack.

He turned to the girls and shrugged. "I wish I could help you more, ladies, but something like this is going to be powerful hard to trace." He adjusted his glasses and his cowboy hat. "More than likely, it's some teenage prank. I ain't too worried about it." He looked at Emily. "I'm sorry it's got your aunt so worked up though."

Emily nodded. "Me too."

He gestured to the coop. "You might want to slap some paint over that before Susan comes out here again. She seemed pretty upset."

Nancy whispered to Emily. "Not until Frank and Joe have seen it."

Sheriff Payne continued, "Well, if that's all there is to see here, ladies, I'll be on my way. I'll file a report and see what we can come up with."

"But that's not all there is to see," Nancy spoke up. She stood in front of the sheriff. "There's been some fencing cut in the south pasture. That's where all the men are right now. Trying to fix it and round up the cattle."

"Hmm," Sheriff Payne scratched his head. "Well, maybe I ought to head out there and have a look."

"Can I come with you?" Nancy asked, smiling in what she hoped was a charming manner.

"Well, why not?" The sheriff chuckled. "Maybe you can tell me more about your detective work on the way."

"I'd be happy to." Nancy took the arm he offered and headed toward his pickup truck. She knew the sheriff was only humoring her, but she was determined she was going to change his mind about female detectives before this case was over. That was something she could guarantee.

OOOoooOOO

"Joe, over here," Frank called, from his position under a lone cottonwood tree.

Joe ambled over and Frank pointed to the ground. Joe reached down with a gloved hand and picked up a pair of wire cutters. "They're clean. Not a rust spot on them."

"Which means they haven't been out here very long."

"Which means they may have been used to cut this fence," Joe finished. He examined the tool carefully. "Frank, look. There's a name scratched into this handle." He tilted it to catch the light. "I can't quite make the whole thing out...it looks like maybe an 'R' and a 'N'."

"Yeah," Frank paused. "Now we just need to find out who they belong to."

"It won't prove anything, but it might give us a lead." Joe stared at the open prairie. "Hey, wait a minute." He walked about ten feet ahead of him. "These are some sort of tire tracks."

Frank caught up to him. "Yeah, but they're too narrow to be from a truck."

"A golf cart or ATV, something like that, maybe?"

"Maybe." Frank looked toward where Ed and another cowboy were setting fence posts. "Let's go see."

Joe pocketed the wire cutters as they approached Emily's uncle. "Ed, do you by chance have some ATVs here on the ranch?" he asked.

Ed grunted as he pounded the fence post into its final position. "Yeah, we got a few of them, why?"

"We were just wondering about some tracks we found in the pasture," Joe explained. "Do you know if anyone has used them in the past day or so?"

Ed dusted off his hands. "We use them all the time, so I'm sure one of the boys has."

"But for the tracks to still be in the grass, it would have to have been today," Frank reasoned. "Who would know if someone's used one today?"

Ed shook his head. "Tim. Maybe Jake. You'll have to ask them."

Frank nodded. "We'll do that."

They paused as they saw the sheriff's pickup truck driving toward them. Frank smiled as the truck came to a stop and he saw Nancy helped out of the passenger side by a man in his mid-fifties, he assumed was the sheriff.

"Miss me?" Frank teased as she approached him, her arm linked through the officer's.

"Always," she said with a smile. "But that's not why I'm here. Sheriff Payne, I'd like you to meet Frank and Joe Hardy. They're also detectives, as is their father, Fenton Hardy."

The sheriff shook hands with both Frank and Joe and grinned. "Well, I don't know what the heck I'm doin' out here. With three detectives, I'd say you all probably have the situation well in hand."

Frank smiled. "Not really. I'd say we're definitely out of our element here."

The sheriff chuckled. "Naw, police work is police work…no matter where you're at." He nodded to Ed. "These guys friends of yours?"

"Yep," Ed said. "They're visiting with Emily." He leaned against the fence post. "What brings you out here? Susan didn't bother you none about this, did she?"

"Nope, I was stoppin' by to get some of your wife's homemade jam before I headed out to visit the widow Sellars. Susan mentioned she wanted me to take her some the last time she was in town." He gestured to Nancy. "Ran into this little filly at the farmhouse and she told me what had happened. Thought I might check it out as long as I'm here."

Frank grinned broadly at the "little filly" reference, in spite of Nancy's warning look. He thought he'd call her that later, just to see her reaction. It promised to be good.

Nancy motioned to him and Joe, leading them away from the others while the sheriff and Ed were examining the cut wire and fence posts.

"Somebody wrote a threatening message on the chicken coop," she said.

"What?" Joe asked.

Nancy nodded. "'Give up now'. What do think that's supposed to mean?"

Frank shook his head. "I don't know. It sounds like intimidation. But what do they want? Money? Land? Control of some sort?"

"That's the big question," Nancy said, gazing around. "Exactly what is going on out here?"

Frank filled her in on their discoveries including the wire cutters, as they walked over to examine the tire tracks. "Hey Joe, measure those."

Joe paced off the distance between the two tire marks. "About two and half steps in these cowboy boots."

Frank nodded. "We'll check out the tires of the ATVs in the barn when we get back."

"Well, how far do these tracks go?" Nancy asked.

"Only about twenty feet in that direction," Frank gestured. "The cattle were over that way, and they trampled out any other marks that might have been there."

Nancy shook her head. "This is going to be tougher than we thought."

"Yeah, who would have guessed you could hide so much in such a wide open space," Joe mused.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **Thanks so much for the feedback, Caranath, Zenfrodo, Jackie, Unobtrusive, bhar, Vinsmouse and Virtute. You all made my day! Thanks as well to everyone reading. I really appreciate it!

Chapter 3

"Honey, I'm home!" Joe said in his best Ricky Ricardo voice, as he opened the screen door and entered the old-fashioned farmhouse. He spotted Emily in the kitchen, taking something out of the oven.

"I'm in here," she called with a giggle.

Joe wandered into the kitchen and stood for a moment. Emily was placing hot biscuits into a towel lined basket. She had a streak of flour across one cheek, and her dark hair was pulled back into a low ponytail. Joe noticed the calico apron tied around her middle, and coming up behind her, tugged on the bow. "This is cute."

"It's a necessity in this kitchen," she replied. She looked past his shoulder. "Where is everyone?"

"Frank and Nancy are still with your uncle by the chicken coop," he explained. "I just wanted to make sure you were all right and then I'm going back there."

"I'm fine," she said with a smile. "Tell them supper will be ready in fifteen minutes."

Joe grinned at her. "You sound like a farm girl."

"I am when I'm on the ranch." She grabbed a potato masher from the counter and began to tackle a large pot of drained potatoes on the stove. "Now get out of here before I put you to work."

"I'm getting," Joe said with a chuckle. Then in a low tone, "Is your aunt okay?"

"She's a little shook up, so I told her to lie down and rest for a bit while I finished dinner."

He nodded. "Be back in fifteen minutes." He kissed her on the cheek. "It smells wonderful, by the way. And I'm starving."

OOOoooOOO

Frank stood with his hands on his hips surveying the threat written in streaky red spray paint on the side of the chicken coop. "Any idea what this means?"

Ed shook his head. "Nope. And now it's starting to tick me off."

"Well, the implication is that someone wants something from you," Frank continued. "Has there been anyone you've quarreled with, anyone who's been angry or irritated about something on the ranch lately?"

Ed shook his head.

"What about something going on in town?" Nancy chimed in. "Something to do with land use or boundaries, or something like that?"

"Well," Ed said thoughtfully. "There are the cabins we're building on the property. Maybe some folks ain't too happy about us bringing in vacationers."

"Has anyone said anything to you?" Nancy asked.

"Not in so many words. But I've heard some murmuring about it in town once or twice."

"Where were you when you heard this?" Frank asked. He wished he had his notebook to write everything down. He glanced at his girlfriend who was listening intently. She'll remember, he thought with a smile.

"Hardware store once. Diner another time." Ed looked up as Joe approached. "Susan doing okay?"

"She's resting," Joe told him.

"So who told you they had a problem with the cabins?" Frank inserted. He wanted names, because at the moment, they really had nothing to go on.

Ed lifted his hat and scratched the back of his head. "Nobody that would have done something like this. R.B. at the hardware store…he owns the place. A waitress at the diner mentioned once that a couple folks in town were wondering just what we were plannin'. They weren't angry or anything. Just wonderin'. Folks can get mighty curious around here about things like that."

Nancy spoke up. "All right, so maybe that's an angle we need to investigate then. People unhappy about the dude ranch aspect of your operation."

"Why would there be objections to having visitors stay here?" Frank asked.

"Oh, mainly because folks around here don't like change." Ed adjusted his hat. "It scares 'em."

"So, they would see outsiders coming onto this ranch as a threat," Joe said.

Ed nodded. "Maybe."

Nancy turned to Frank. "Looks like we've got some work to do in town."

Ed chuckled. "Well, you can try. But you're one of them outsiders they don't trust."

Nancy smiled at him. "Then we'll just have to get an 'insider' to come along with us."

Ed smiled back at her. "You don't give up easy, do you?"

"No, she doesn't," Frank said, slipping his arm around Nancy's waist. Ed had only seen the beginning of how intensely she could focus on a case. Frank wasn't sure the old rancher was going to be able to handle Nancy once she really got going on this.

Ed chuckled. "Why don't we head up to the house then, and see what Susan's got goin' for supper?"

Joe snapped his fingers. "Oh, that's right. Emily said dinner would be ready in fifteen minutes. She was working on it when I left."

A look of concern crossed Nancy's face. "I'd better go help her." She gave Frank a quick kiss. "See you in a minute."

As Nancy dashed off, Ed turned to Frank. "You've got your hands full with that one. She's a little spitfire."

Frank rolled his eyes. "You have no idea."

OOOoooOOO

Nancy burst through the farmhouse kitchen door to find Tim Carlson standing in the kitchen with Emily. "Oh," she said. "I didn't realize you already had help."

Tim chuckled. "Oh, I'm not any help in here. I can assure you of that."

"Of course you are," Emily said with a smile. "Here, put this on the table."

Tim took a heaping plate of fried chicken from her and set it down in the center of the kitchen table.

"See? You helped." Emily turned to Nancy. "Is everyone here? Because dinner's ready."

"Um, yeah," Nancy said. "They'll be in shortly." She smiled at Tim. "What are you doing here?"

Tim chuckled. "You mean why am I crashing your party?" He took the bowl of steaming carrots dotted with butter that Emily handed him. "Ed asked me to come up. He wanted to talk to me about some of the stuff that's been happenin' around here lately."

Nancy blushed. "I didn't mean it like that."

"Yes, you did." Tim winked at her. "But that's okay."

"Um, let me get the salt and pepper," Nancy offered, her cheeks crimson. This guy was definitely a mover. And from the yearning look in his eyes, she could tell he was hot after Emily, which was going to tick Joe off something fierce. She glanced at Tim sideways. But darn it, he was so good-looking, Nancy found herself getting all fluttery under his gaze. What was it about these cowboys anyway?

"The salt and pepper shakers are on the counter, behind the paper towels," Emily said, then turned her attention to Tim. "Okay, 'Mr. Not Helpful', what would you like to do next?"

He grinned at her and leaned back against the counter. "How 'bout I just stand here and watch the scenery for awhile?"

Emily gave him a look. "That's not productive."

Nancy placed the condiments on the table and watched as Tim surveyed Emily from head to toe then chuckled, "Oh, I don't know about that. Isn't enjoying the view productive?"

Nancy shook her head. Yep, this guy was going to be on Joe's "you know what" list if he kept talking to Em like that.

Emily swatted her dish towel at him playfully just as Joe stepped into the room. Nancy observed as Joe stood there quietly for a moment, then nodded his head in Tim's direction. He was handling this whole scene much better than she'd thought he would. Perhaps he really was learning to get that temper of his under control.

Joe walked over to Emily and casually rested his hand on the small of her back. "Hey, babe."

She smiled at him. "Hi, sweetie. Are you still hungry?"

"You know it," he replied, kissing her temple.

"Good. Then let's eat."

Nancy looked from Tim to Joe and gave the younger Hardy an understanding smile.

She walked over to Frank, who had taken a seat at the table and was surveying the spread of food in front of him. "Wow Em, did you make all this just for us?" he asked.

She smiled. "Yep, you're a cowboy now. You've got to eat like one."

Nancy sat down next to Frank and gave him a playful poke in the stomach. "I'm sure he won't have any trouble doing that."

Susan came downstairs at the same moment her husband walked through the back door. She smiled gratefully at her niece, who was busy getting the rest of the dinner on the table.

"Well, as we say out here, 'chow down' everybody," Ed announced as he made his way to the table and pulled out Susan's chair for her. He nodded at Tim as he passed around the fried chicken. "Thanks for comin', Tim. I appreciate it. We'll talk after supper."

Tim glanced up at him, then held out the plate for Emily. "Yes, sir."

Susan touched her husband on the arm. "Ed, you can talk about what's been going on right now. That's what we asked Emily and her friends here for, isn't it?"

Ed cleared his throat, "Well, honey, we didn't..."

"I'm fine," Susan assured him.

Nancy spoke up, eager to get some answers. "Okay, then. Susan, do you know anyone who might be upset with you having vacationers come and stay here?"

Susan seemed puzzled. "Why, no. Not that anyone has mentioned."

Nancy turned to Tim. "Have you heard any complaints?"

Tim glanced over at Susan, then looked at Nancy. "A few."

"Really, Tim?" Susan was surprised. "From whom?"

"Well, it's nothing specific," Tim explained. "More like folks wondering just exactly what you're doing here." He took a biscuit and passed them along. "I tried to reassure them that it wasn't anything."

"Who's them?" Nancy demanded.

"Like I said, no one in particular. Mainly folks just making conversation. Mrs. Larsen brought it up to me in the post office once. But she didn't linger on it. Moved right along to tellin' me how well her grandson was doing at Harvard." Tim chuckled. "I got out of there as soon as I could."

"So, do you think people were afraid this was going to become some type of dude ranch?" Frank asked.

"I guess," Tim nodded.

"Meaning they didn't want a lot of strangers coming in and changing things around here," Joe said.

"Yeah, that's about the size of it," Tim agreed.

"But that's ridiculous," Susan said. "I only want to have a few guests at a time. Good heavens, we're not going to make this place a resort."

Ed snorted. "Not even close. We're a working cattle ranch, first and foremost." He smiled at his wife. "Susan's always had a hankering to run a little bed and breakfast, and that's what those cabins are for."

"Cabins?" Joe asked.

"Well, 'cabin' for right now," Ed clarified. "That's where you four are going to be staying."

Joe gave Emily a little smile. "Really?"

Nancy watched as Emily's eyes widened and she shook her head in warning. If anyone was going to say something inappropriate about the sleeping arrangements, it would be Joe.

"Yeah," Ed continued. "They're real nice. We spared no expense. Stone fireplaces, wood floors, hot tubs." He chuckled. "Those were Susan's idea."

"Hot tubs, huh?" Frank smiled as Nancy rolled her eyes. Leave it until this moment for Frank to decide to become "Mr. Inappropriate."

"So anyway," Nancy said, wanting to focus on the case and distract the guys before Emily had an anxiety attack, "maybe that's the reason for this vandalism. Somebody doesn't want you having guests here."

"Well, it's a theory," Frank added. "We'll definitely investigate it, but we're not closed off to other theories either." He patted Nancy on the leg.

She sighed inwardly. That was Frank's code for telling her to pull it back a few notches.

Ed reached for the mashed potatoes. "You all are certainly thorough, I'll say that." He smiled at his niece. "I had a hard time believing it when Em told me you all were detectives, but I don't now."

"Well, thank you for the vote of confidence," Frank said with a smile.

"They're the best, Uncle Ed." Emily leaned her head on Joe's shoulder. "I probably wouldn't even be here today if it wasn't for Joe. He saved my life."

"Yes, your mother told us all about that awful man who left you on that rock in the ocean to drown." Susan's hand was at her throat and she shuddered. "We're certainly grateful to you, Joe."

"Yes, we are," Ed chimed in. "That was mighty brave of you taking on that lunatic like you did."

Joe's face reddened under the praise. "I'd do anything for Emily," he said as he accepted the gravy boat from Frank.

Nancy couldn't help but smile when she noticed the scowl on Tim's face and the vigorous way he was slapping butter on his biscuit. Score one point for Joe.

Emily kissed Joe's cheek then turned to her uncle. "That's why I know they'll figure this out. They're amazing, Uncle Ed. Don't worry."

"I ain't worried, honey. Not one bit," Ed assured her, scooping a large helping of mashed potatoes on his plate.

_Well, that makes one of us,_ Nancy thought, because she was definitely worried. And judging by the expressions on Frank and Joe's faces…they were, too.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews, Unobtrusive, Zenfrodo, Vinsmouse, Carnath, KennaC and Leya! They are always appreciated! This chapter is pure fluff...because I'm a very fluffy girl at heart. Thank you so much for reading!

Chapter 4

"Wow," Joe said, as he stood in the cabin living room two hours later and surveyed the retro Western décor and the large comfortable furnishings. "This is nice."

"Yeah," Frank agreed. "Your Aunt Susan is going to have this place packed with guests, Em." He ran his hand over the river rock wall surrounding the fireplace. "How many bedrooms are there?"

"Two," Nancy said, an innocent tone to her voice.

"Perfect," Frank said with a grin as he stepped over to Nancy. "Shall we check them out?"

"If you'd like." Nancy took his hand and led him to the far side of the room. "Follow me," she teased, opening the bedroom door.

"I think they've got the right idea," Joe said, slipping his arms around Emily's waist. "Where's our room, baby?"

"Right here." She stepped out of Joe's embrace and led him into a room directly across from them. He looked at the bed and the fireplace, then grinned at her. "Think anyone will miss us if we just stay in here for the rest of the trip? Frank and Nancy can solve the mystery by themselves."

Emily giggled. "I think people might get a little suspicious." She opened up another door. "Here's the bathroom. In case you want to take a shower."

"Is that a hint?" Joe grabbed her and pulled her toward him. "Are you saying I stink?" He nuzzled her neck.

"No." She poked him in the ribs. "Only that you're a little dusty. She sighed. "And that comforter and all those pillows are so white and clean."

"Okay," he agreed. He kissed her. "I'll be out in ten minutes. Unless you'd care to join me?"

"Get in there," she said with a smile. "Maybe later, if you're good."

OOO

She went back into the living room and found Nancy standing near the couches. Emily looked at the stack of sheets she was holding. "Let me guess, my Aunt Susan left those out here."

Nancy laughed. "Yeah, I guess we're supposed to use them on the couches for Frank and Joe."

Emily reached for a set. "Then let's do it."

OOO

Frank entered the living room five minutes later to find Nancy and Emily spreading comforters over the couches. "Um, I got the fire started, honey," he said to Nancy.

"Oh, good." Nancy fluffed up a pillow and arranged it on one of the sofas. "Thanks."

Frank stepped over to her. "Can I ask what you're doing?"

Nancy smiled at him as she slipped a pillowcase onto another pillow. "Making up your bed for you."

"Making up my bed?" Frank was puzzled. Hadn't he just spent the past ten minutes getting the perfect romantic blaze going in the fireplace? In the bedroom he and Nancy were sleeping in? Together?

"Yes." Nancy turned to him. "You and Joe should be really comfortable out here."

"Me and Joe?" He glanced at his brother as he stepped out of the other bedroom, shirtless with a pair of gray sweatpants on.

"What's going on?" Joe asked.

"Nothing, honey. Just finishing up your bed," Emily said.

"My bed's in there." Joe pointed backwards. "You know. Me, you, bed," he gestured.

Joe was a little primitive about it, Frank thought. But those were his sentiments, exactly. Me, Nancy, bed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, didn't you know? Aunt Susan would never approve of those arrangements," Emily said.

"What?" Joe asked. "She put the four of us together in this two bedroom cabin. And I'm sure she didn't expect Frank and me to share a bed."

"No, silly," Nancy teased. "That's what the couches are for. Emily and I get the bedrooms. You guys get the couches."

"Um, Nan? You're kidding, right? I mean, we're all consenting adults here. All at least age twenty-one." Frank had spent the entire day fantasizing about his plans for Nancy tonight. And now he was being told that he was going to have to sleep on the couch? Was she insane?

"Nope. Dead serious." She kissed him briefly on the lips and handed him a pillow. "Good night, babe. I'll see you in the morning."

Emily gave Joe a hug. "I love you, honey. Good night."

"Wh-what?" Joe sputtered as the girls disappeared behind closed doors. He turned to Frank. "What just happened?"

Frank shook his head. "I don't know, but I'm not sleeping out here. Not when I haven't seen her for three weeks and she's ten feet away." He threw his pillow down on the couch and entered the bedroom.

OOO

Nancy held her hand under the shower nozzle, testing the temperature of the water. Perfect. She had just pulled back the curtain and was getting ready to step in when someone touched her on the shoulder. Nancy jumped and let out a little scream. She turned to see a naked Frank chuckling at her. "Damn it, Frank. Don't scare me like that."

"I'm sorry," he said, laughing as he took her into his arms and walked under the spray. "I missed you so much, baby," he murmured, kissing her shoulder. "It's been too long since I've been in River Heights."

Nancy closed her eyes, as he slid his hands down to the small of her back. "Frank, you're not supposed to be in here."

"Don't care." He lifted his hands up to her hair, tilted her head back, and covered her mouth with his. Nancy felt herself getting dizzy as his tongue slid sensuously over her bottom lip, coaxing her to deepen the kiss. She clung to Frank as the water poured down over them. His hands slid over her shoulders and down to her waist, where his grip tightened and he pulled her body flush against his.

"See, I've got this problem." He kissed her again. "I'm crazy about you."

"Frank," she gasped, feeling as though she were drowning as he pressed her back against the shower wall, placing his hands on either side of her face and bending his head down to kiss her throat. "I don't care either," she whispered to him.

OOOoooOOO

Joe yanked off his sweatpants and tossed them on the floor next to the couch. He sat down for a moment in his boxers, and stared at Emily's closed bedroom door.

"To hell with this," he said aloud, and marched across the room, flinging it open. Emily was standing next to the bed, clad only in a tight pink tank top and matching lace panties.

"Joe," she said, turning her head. "What took you so long?"

He came up behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her into him tightly. "You little stinker," he said, kissing her neck.

She leaned back against him as Joe's lips traveled down her neck, first resting on her collarbone, then moving to her shoulder. "Mmmm, that makes me crazy, you know," she murmured.

"Why do think I'm doing it?" He pulled her hair back and nuzzled her neck.

"You're making my knees weak," Emily gasped, giggling as he slipped his hands underneath her tank top and rested them on her ribcage.

He chuckled low against her shoulder. "Good."

She reached her hand backwards, pulling his head down, and arching toward him. Joe accepted her invitation, bringing his lips over hers and kissing her deeply. "Mmmm," he whispered, his passion increasing. He turned her around, then covered her mouth with his again as she slid her hands over his bare chest and into his hair.

"Love you," she sighed as they broke apart.

He leaned his forehead against hers, in a vain effort to slow down and gain some control. Emily still had her hands in his hair, and as she leaned her body against his, he felt himself teetering on the brink again.

His hands roamed restlessly over her back and her thin cotton tank top. She pressed her lips to his again and kissed him hungrily. Joe groaned softly as he tugged on the hem of her tank top. "Take this off, baby," he breathed raggedly into her ear. She clung to him, as his lips traveled down the side of her neck. "I love you so much," he whispered.

A knock sounded loudly on the front door and Emily froze.

"Emily? Are you in there?" Susan called. "We just wanted to stop by and say goodnight."

"Oh no! It's my aunt and uncle!" She looked panicked. "Joe, you've got to get out of here."

"What?" he gasped. "Honey, just pretend we're asleep."

"No!" She gave him a little shove. "Get going."

"Emily, in case you haven't noticed, I'm in no condition to go anywhere right now," he protested.

She looked around the room and grabbed a floral print throw off a chair. "Here. Wrap this around you."

"Have you lost your mind?"

"If they find you in here with me...like this...it'll really hurt my aunt's feelings. I don't want to do that. Now go!"

Joe stepped out into the living room, to find Frank already crawling into his makeshift bed on the couch.

"Emily?" Aunt Susan called out again. "Is everything okay?" There was some movement outside. "Emily? Are you all right? We're coming in, dear."

Joe shook his head in irritation and flung himself down on the couch, yanking up the covers. He saw Emily dash quickly out of the bedroom, pulling on some ugly robe, and zipping it up to her neck. She gave Joe a desperate glance, that he thought might be a warning, as she reached for the doorknob. She opened it just as Aunt Susan began turning it from the outside.

"Oh, hi, dear," Susan said as she stepped into the room and looked around nervously. "What took you so long?"

"I, um, I was getting changed. Sorry," she apologized.

"Oh, well, why didn't one of the boys answer?"

"Not dressed," Joe offered. "I didn't think it would be appropriate to answer the door in my underwear. You know, in case one of the girls came out here." He would be good, but not that good. The physical pain he was in at the moment wouldn't allow for it.

Susan blushed and hung her head, while Ed chuckled. "I told her she was gonna be botherin' you, and that you all were fine."

"I was nervous about these sleeping arrangements, Ed," Susan said. "I only wanted to make sure everyone was comfortable."

"Oh, I couldn't be more comfortable," Joe spoke up.

Susan looked over at Frank, who had the pillow covering his head. "Is he okay?"

"He's asleep," Joe told her. "He prefers the pillow over him rather than under him. He always has."

"Oh." Susan looked to Emily. "Where's Nancy?"

"Um, she's in the shower. Or in bed. She was really tired," Emily added.

"Well, okay then. I guess if everything is all right, we'll let you get some sleep." Susan gestured to Emily, who walked toward her. "Sweetheart, you probably shouldn't let Joe see you dressed like that."

Joe rolled his eyes as Emily glanced down at the full-length, high-necked, shapeless robe with the zipper front she'd hastily grabbed out of the closet, then back at her aunt.

Her aunt was right, Joe thought. He shouldn't see her dressed like that. He should be seeing her in her "barely there" lingerie that he loved. Tiny scraps of lace and silk that he could slip off with one finger. He shifted uncomfortably. Okay, that little fantasy wasn't helping the situation one bit. He strained to hear the rest of the conversation as Emily's aunt pulled her closer.

"Honey, a robe is almost like your…undergarments." Aunt Susan whispered the last word.

Joe couldn't help smiling. Not even close to Emily's undergarments. She always looked demure and sweet on the outside, but underneath it all, she dressed like a stripper. Joe loved it. Aunt Susan would pass out if she knew. He was certain of that.

Emily stifled a smile. "Well, I had to answer the door, Aunt Susan. But I'll keep that in mind."

Aunt Susan patted her hand reassuringly. "I know you will." Aloud she said, "Good night, everyone. We'll see you in the morning."

After the front door closed, Nancy, wrapped in a towel, poked her head out of the bedroom. "Are they gone?"

"Yes." Emily turned to face them, then burst out laughing.

"I'm glad you think this is funny, because I don't," Joe said. The passing thoughts of Emily in her lingerie had only added to his discomfort. And now he was ticked.

"I'm sorry, it's just that..." Emily couldn't finish, and sat down on the couch next to Joe, giggling uncontrollably.

"She's lost it." Joe shook his head.

Frank lifted the pillow off his head, and shook his soaking wet hair, splattering drops of water everywhere. "Is your aunt going to do that again?"

Emily shrugged. "I have no idea."

"Because I don't think I can take it." Frank stood up, adjusting his towel.

Nancy began laughing as well. "Come on, Frank. You've got to admit that was funny."

Frank smiled at her. "Maybe a little." He brushed back his wet hair. "But only a little."

Joe rose up from the couch as well, the cotton throw hanging loosely from his hips.

Frank chuckled. "Okay, Joe's flowered skirt is funny."

Joe glared at him. "Shut up." He turned to Emily. "And will you please take that hideous thing off?"

"What?" Emily twirled around and gave him a teasing smile. "You don't like my granny robe?"

"Only if I want to make out with my Aunt Gertrude," he muttered, tightening his blanket.

She winked at him. "Well, come with me then. I'll let you take it off."

He grinned. "Now that's more like it." He turned to Frank and Nancy as Emily led him toward the bedroom. "Later."

Frank looked at Nancy. "Last one in the shower is a rotten egg!"


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: **Thank you so much for the comments, Caranath, zenfrodo, Kenna, Unobtrusive and Vinsmouse! I'm glad the fluff was ok! A little more in this chapter and back to the mystery as well. Thanks to those who are reading!

Chapter 5

"Good morning, boys," Susan called out as Joe entered the farmhouse kitchen with Frank the next day. "Did you sleep well?"

"Um, yes," Frank replied.

"That couch was surprisingly comfortable," Joe added, determined to stay on Susan's good side. Maybe then she wouldn't suspect any "nocturnal activity" had gone on between him and Emily.

"Well, I'm glad." Susan placed a heaping stack of pancakes onto the table. "Where are the girls?"

"They're getting dressed," Joe said. "We wanted to give them some privacy."

Susan nodded as she stepped into the pantry. "Sit down and help yourselves, boys. Ed's in his office, but he'll be along in a minute."

"Don't overdo it," Frank hissed at Joe.

Joe shrugged as he piled six pancakes and four sausages onto his plate. "Didn't think I was."

Ed's office door opened, and he stepped into the room with Pete Brookings and a young blonde woman.

"Howdy, boys," Ed called out. "You remember Pete?"

Frank and Joe stood to shake his hand.

"You're from the ranch next door, right?" Joe asked.

"You could say that." Pete chuckled.

"And this is Pete's daughter, Jamie," Ed continued, gesturing toward the pretty blonde girl with light brown eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Jamie," Frank said, extending his hand. "I'm Frank Hardy and this is my brother, Joe."

Jamie smiled coyly as she shook Frank's hand. "Hello, Frank."

"And I'm Joe."

"Joe," Jamie acknowledged, her eyes never leaving Frank's face.

"Don't mind me. I'm just going to finish my breakfast." Joe sat back down in his chair, and grinned at his brother. This girl was definitely giving Frank the once over. And it was going to be hilarious. These situations always made Frank uncomfortable.

"Won't you join us, Jamie?" Frank asked politely.

"We can't stay," Pete interrupted, as Jamie was about to take the chair next to Frank's. "We've got to get over to the barn and see about that horse."

"Horse?" Joe asked.

"Yeah, Pete's thinking about buying one of our cutting horses," Ed explained, as he led him out of the kitchen.

"Do you ride, Frank?" Jamie asked with a smile.

"I do, but not as well as everyone on this ranch does," he answered, pouring syrup over his stack of pancakes.

"I'll bet you just need some practice is all." Jamie's smile was still huge on her face. "Maybe I'll stop by later and give you a little lesson."

Joe choked on his orange juice and looked up to grin at his brother. Wow, this chick wasn't even subtle. He was going to have a great time with this. Frank didn't get ruffled easily, but when he did, Joe liked to take full advantage.

Frank cleared his throat. "Well, um, that's very nice of you, Jamie, but I'm afraid I'm here on a different kind of assignment."

"Doesn't matter," she drawled. "If you're on a ranch, you need to learn to ride."

"Yeah, Frank," Joe said, as he took a few more pancakes off the pile in the center of the table. "You need to ride, for heaven's sake."

Frank glared at Joe then turned to Jamie. "Well, uh, thank you for your offer. I'll give it some thought."

"Anytime." She stood to follow her father. "Bye, Frank," she said with a little wave.

"Bye," Joe called out after her. "Nice talking to you." He turned to his brother and raised his eyebrows.

"Don't say it," Frank warned.

Joe chuckled and popped another forkful of pancakes into his mouth.

OOOoooOOO

Nancy and Emily were strolling along the path from the cabin to the farmhouse while Emily finished tying her hair into a braid.

"I think the best thing would be to go into town and see if we can learn anything there," Nancy said. "And maybe you could talk to some of the cowboys around here. They don't seem suspicious of you."

"I'll do my best," she assured her. "But I'm not a detective."

"Just get the information," Nancy told her. "We'll try and piece it together later."

Nancy paused as she saw Ed exiting the house with Pete and Jamie. Ed smiled and waved at them.

"Well, there's Emily now," he said to his guests.

"Jamie?" Emily called out. "Is that you?"

"Em?" the girl asked, coming up to her. "Holy cow, I haven't seen you in forever."

The girls hugged as they greeted each other.

"This is my friend, Nancy Drew," Emily said, taking Nancy by the arm and pulling her forward.

"Hi, Nancy. I'm Jamie Brookings."

"They own the ranch next to my Uncle Ed's," Emily explained.

Nancy smiled at Jamie. "Nice to meet you." _Pretty girl_, Nancy thought as she took in Jamie's long blonde hair and slim figure.

"So," Jamie turned her attention back to Emily. "What brings you out here?"

"Actually, we're trying to figure out who's been vandalizing the ranch."

"Vandalizing?" Jamie looked puzzled.

"Hasn't your dad told you?" Emily asked. "They've had some weird things going on here. Threats, even."

"Well, he mentioned some little stuff, but it sounded like practical jokes to me," Jamie said. "Do you think it's more serious?"

Nancy thought Jamie seemed alarmed. Had her father been keeping this from her?

"Yeah, we do," Nancy chimed in. "That's why we're here."

"My friends are detectives," Emily explained. "If you came from the house, you must have met Frank and Joe."

Jamie smiled. "Yes, I did. They're very cute."

Emily laughed. "Well, we think so. Joe is my boyfriend."

Jamie paused for a moment. "And Frank?"

Nancy raised her hand. "Belongs to me."

Jamie looked her up and down, the smile on her face becoming strained. "I see."

Nancy smiled inwardly. Jamie had obviously planned on making a move on Frank. Wasn't going to happen though. Nancy wasn't jealous or possessive like Joe, but she would make sure this girl knew Frank Hardy was hers.

"So," Emily jumped in. "You're still living on the ranch?"

"Of course," Jamie said. "What else would I be doing?"

Before Emily could answer, Pete called out to Jamie. "We're headed over to the barn. You coming?"

"In a minute," Jamie answered. She glanced over her shoulder as Frank and Joe stepped onto the front porch. Her smile was back in place as she faced Emily. "Wow, it's really great that you're going to be visiting for awhile, Em. We'll have to get together and talk some more. It's been way too long."

Jamie waved at Frank and Joe before she headed down the path toward the barn.

"She's quite the piece of work," Nancy murmured to Em as Frank and Joe descended the porch steps.

Emily rolled her eyes. "Oh, yeah."

Nancy gave Frank a little smile as he approached. "Got yourself a little groupie?"

Frank shook his head. "No." He slipped his arm around Nancy's waist.

"Um, I beg to differ," Joe teased. "She pretty much threw herself at him."

Frank glared at his brother.

Emily giggled. "Jamie's always been a little on the forward side."

Nancy poked Frank in the ribs. "Well, I guess I'll have to be on my toes. I don't want anyone else moving in on my man." She could tell Frank was embarrassed by the whole episode and she was enjoying it. It was good to see "Mr. Calm, Cool and Collected" get a little flustered now and then.

Frank rolled his eyes. "Let's go see about getting a vehicle so we can head into town and do what we were hired to do, okay?"

"My uncle can give you one. Just go to the barn and ask him for the keys," Emily said.

"Aren't you coming?" Joe asked, giving her braid a gentle tug.

Emily shook her head. "I feel like I need to stay here and help my aunt. She's kind of the anxious type and she's still upset about the vandalism on the chicken coop yesterday." She kissed Joe quickly. "I'll try and get some information from some of the ranch hands though if I can. You all have fun."

OOOoooOOO

Joe paused outside the barn while Frank and Nancy caught up to him. He nudged his brother. "Hey, I'm going to go check out those ATVs over there," he gestured.

Frank nodded. "Good. We'll be inside."

Joe casually strolled over to the vehicles parked in an open-sided shed about fifty feet from the barn. He measured off the wheel space between them, but came up short. None of these.

"Need help with something, Joe?" Jake approached him from the other side of the shed.

"These ATVs," Joe pointed. "Are they the only vehicles you use to get around the ranch?"

"No, we've also got some golf-cart type things, some tractors, some other kinds of four wheeler type utility carts that we can haul stuff around in. Why do you ask?"

"Just doing some investigating." Joe walked around one of the machines. "Can all of the vehicles drive out into the pasture? Like the one we were in yesterday?"

"Most, but not all if the grass is too tall or too dense." Jake pushed his hat back. "Do you want to borrow one or something?"

Joe shook his head. "No, but I really need to see them. Take some measurements if that's okay." He thought for a moment. "Actually, maybe I do need to drive one or two out into the pasture and see what kind of tread marks they might leave in the grass."

Jake shrugged. "Suit yourself. Unfortunately, they're kind of scattered all over the place." He handed Joe a key ring. "I think Tim has one over near the house, and some of the other cowboys have a few by the pens and by the north pasture." He gestured to the ATVs. "Why don't you ride one of these around, otherwise it'll take you all day just to get to them."

Joe grinned. "Thanks, don't mind if I do." He turned as he heard Frank call out his name. Joe waved and his brother walked toward him.

"Hey Joe, we're heading into town with Pete and Jamie. They were going there anyway, and Ed's got some stuff he needs to do here," Frank explained.

"Jamie, huh?" Joe teased. "Emily's right, she is a fast mover."

"Nancy's coming, too," Frank said dryly. "But, I don't think there's enough room in the cab for you."

"Doesn't matter," Joe replied. "I'm going to stay here and check out the farm vehicles to see if any of them match up with the tracks we found by the fence line yesterday."

"Good thinking," Frank told him. "I'll catch up with you later."

OOOoooOOO

The truck cab was crowded with four people in it. Jamie volunteered to sit on Frank's lap, but Frank quickly pulled Nancy onto him, and placed his arms around her tightly. Nancy's smile to Jamie was returned with a glare.

Frank stared straight ahead, stone-faced. These kinds of situations always made him uncomfortable. He didn't want to be rude. He wasn't even sure he could be. Nancy squeezed his hand and gave him a teasing smile. She was going to be as bad as Joe about this, he thought with a sigh.

Pete Brookings' first stop was the feed store. As they entered, Frank thought it smelled faintly of dry dog food, mixed with leather and dirt.

"Interesting," he said, looking around. The aisles were filled with twenty-five to forty pound bags of all kinds of animal feed. Mixed in were gardening implements, tack for horses, plants, tools and hardware. On top of a towering stack of feed bags lay a large gray cat, calmly grooming herself.

"Mornin' R.B.," Pete called out to the proprietor.

"Mornin'." A gray haired man stepped around the counter to greet them.

"This here's Frank Hardy and Nancy Drew. They're visiting Ed and Susan for awhile."

"You folks livin' in that new cabin?" R.B. asked.

"We're staying there while we visit. Emily's a good friend of ours," Nancy explained.

"Emily's here, is she?" R.B. grinned. "Pretty little thing she is, that's for sure. My son Charlie had a huge crush on her. Probably still does."

"Yeah, there's a lot of that going around," Nancy said, with a sly smile for Frank.

Frank rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long day. "So, you know about the cabins at the ranch then?"

"Yeah, most folks in town heard about them." R.B. scratched his head. "Don't rightly know why they're building 'em though."

"Well, I don't think they're planning on having very many of them," Frank said. "But wouldn't a few guests in town be good? It would bring more business to the shops here."

"Don't need more business," R.B. replied. "We're doin' just fine. Have been for over forty years."

Interesting way to manage an operation, Frank thought. Most owners wanted more traffic in their stores. He guessed Emily was right. It was a completely different way of life here. "So, are there people who are upset with Ed and Susan about inviting guests to the ranch?" Frank leaned down to pet the gray cat, which was now brushing up against his legs.

"Maybe a few." R.B. shrugged. "Nothing mean-spirited or anything like that. Folks just want to make sure things won't be changing around here because of it."

"Anyone more upset than that about it?" Frank wanted names, but these people were not the forthcoming type. They protected their own.

"Nope, nobody I can think of."

"Well, we promise we won't disrupt things too much," Nancy said with a smile.

He waved his hand. "Aw, any friends of Emily's are always welcome. You folks go ahead and make yourselves at home." He turned to Pete. "Now what can I get for you this mornin'?"

As Pete walked off with the owner, Jamie slid her hand through Frank's arm. "Did you notice the hats hanging on the wall?"

He easily extricated himself from Jamie's grip as he looked to where she was pointing. "They don't look new. Don't tell me they sell old hats here?"

Jamie hit him teasingly on the arm. "No, silly. Those are old hats that ranchers have worn. When they're just about to fall apart and they can't possibly wear them for one more day, they bring them here, and R.B. hangs them on the wall."

Frank nodded. "Kind of like a shrine?"

Jamie smiled at him. "Yep. A cowboy's hat is very important to him. They get quite attached. It's a traumatic thing to have to break in a new one."

He chuckled as Nancy came up to him, a little ball of fluff in her hand. "Oh, Frank, look how sweet." She showed him a baby chick she'd picked up from a pen near the counter.

"He's cute," he acknowledged. Then feeling Jamie's stare, he added, "But not as cute as you." He leaned in and kissed Nancy's cheek.

"Frank," Jamie spoke up, "why don't we try and find you a cowboy hat?"

"Well..." Frank began.

"Oh go on, honey." Nancy smiled. "You know how sexy I think you are as a cowboy."

Frank gave her a desperate stare as she went to return the baby chick to its home. When he got back to the ranch, he was going to make her pay for this.

He turned to Jamie with a weak smile on his face. "I guess I could look at them."

OOOoooOOO

Joe pulled his ATV up near the calf pens and stepped down. He strolled over to a vehicle that looked like a golf cart with extra fat tires and examined it. Pacing off the steps between the tires, he scratched his head. Might be a match.

He examined the key ring Jake had given him as he climbed behind the wheel. Finding the one that belonged to it, he started the engine, and headed out toward the south pasture to try and replicate the tire treads in the grass.

OOOoooOOO

"What can I do for you now?" Emily asked her aunt as she finished drying the last of the breakfast dishes. "Any outside chores?"

Susan smiled at her. "You do hate being cooped up on a beautiful day, don't you? That hasn't changed."

Emily grinned, and Susan pointed toward the mudroom. "Why don't you see about gathering the eggs? That was always your favorite chore when you were little."

"Only after you got rid of that nasty Bertha," Emily said, shuddering at the memory of the large hen who always attempted to bite her when she tried to take her eggs.

"Yes, she did get a little big for her britches, didn't she?" Aunt Susan laughed. "After she kept attacking the rooster, your Uncle Ed turned her into Sunday dinner."

"Thank goodness," Emily said, taking a basket from a peg on the wall. "I never quite understood what 'henpecked' meant until I saw that rooster without any tail feathers."

Susan's laugh rang out behind her as Emily opened the screen door and stepped onto the back porch. She began her stroll toward the henhouse, filling her lungs with a deep breath of fresh air. _I'd forgotten how blue the sky can be out here, _she thought, as she shaded her eyes from the brilliant sunshine and looked toward the expansive sky above her, with only a few fluffy white clouds to punctuate it.

She saw Tim, over near the enormous vegetable garden, tilling up even more rich soil for tomatoes, and smiled down at a few escaped chickens as they crossed the path in front of her, heading back toward their home. Emily entered the chicken yard, shutting the gate behind her. She opened the door to the coop, and stopped short at what greeted her inside.

OOOoooOOO

Joe drove his ATV into the south pasture for about fifty feet, then stopped and jumped down. Walking around the vehicle, he went to where he'd entered the pasture and looked toward the ATV, examining the tire marks he'd left in the grass. About the right width_,_ he thought, marking them off with his boots. He knelt down and examined the depth of the imprint. The Bluestem grass crushed pretty well, so it could still be lying flat after a few hours. Maybe even an entire day.

He took a camera out of his pocket and snapped a few photos to compare them to the ones Frank had taken the previous afternoon. As he stood, he heard a snorting noise from somewhere off to his left. What the heck? He glanced around and found himself not more than twenty feet from one of the largest, meanest looking bulls he'd ever seen.

Joe swallowed hard. "Hi, there. Nice boy." Oh geez, what do you say to a bull? The animal pawed at the ground. Okay, that was not a good sign. He thought they did that right before they charged. He moved slowly toward the ATV.

The bull snorted again and followed Joe with his eyes. _Damn it, I thought they couldn't see very well. _Joe moved slowly until he had the ATV between himself and the bull. _How fast can a bull run? And is it faster than this vehicle can drive? And where the hell is Frank with his vast stores of useless knowledge when I need him? _

The bull pawed at the ground again and lowered his head. Then he hurled himself straight toward the four-wheeler and Joe.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: **Thanks to Caranath, zenfrodo, Jackie, unobtrusive, Vinsmouse and Leya for the feedback! I love hearing your thoughts! The focus is back on the mystery in this chapter. Thank you for reading!

Chapter 6

The bull lowered his head and rammed the ATV hard. Joe jumped backwards._ Damn, this was getting serious. _

He quickly decided that escaping the field in the ATV was going to be impossible. He looked around and spotted the fence about thirty feet behind him. And ten feet or so beyond that stood a young cottonwood tree.

Joe turned back to the bull, who had been sidetracked temporarily when his horns tangled in the upholstery of the ATV seat. Joe knew he didn't have much time and he was done messing around with this animal. The thought of those horns getting tangled somewhere in his rib cage definitely held no appeal.

The bull released himself and backed up a bit. He snorted and shook his head. _Crap, now he's really angry._

Joe quickly peeled off his t-shirt. It wasn't red, but hopefully, it would do. _Please let all those bull fighters waving their capes around not be something they do just for show. _

He held his shirt out and shook it, as he backed up slowly toward the fence. The bull tossed his head again and Joe gulped.

He waved his shirt once more as the animal pawed at the grass_. _

_Here goes nothing. _He tossed it into the wind as far away from him as he could, then took off running toward the fence at a breakneck pace, not even pausing to see what the bull had done.

When he reached the fence, he slid between the strands of barbed wire stopping only when he reached the cottonwood tree. Hiding behind the trunk, he dared a backward glance.

The bull was charging the ATV again. So much for his matador skills. Joe's legs felt like rubber, but he did not want to stay within sniffing distance of the animal any longer, so he began his long walk back to the barn.

OOOoooOOO

Emily never screamed when she was truly frightened. Her voice seemed to catch in her throat, and no sound would come out.

As she surveyed the interior of the henhouse, that was exactly what happened. She backed up into the far wall, and braced herself against some bins, horrified by the scene that met her eyes.

She felt something wet and sticky on her hands, and pulling them away from the bins, turned and ran out the door as fast as she possibly could.

Opening the gate, she was ready to run for the barn and her uncle, when she saw Tim coming up from the garden.

"Hey there, darlin'," he said, a smile spreading across his face as she headed toward him. As she came closer, his expression changed to one of concern.

"Emily, what on earth?" Tim grabbed her by the arms as he stared down at her. "Are you bleeding, honey?"

Emily found her voice as she looked at her hands and her dress. "N-no." She choked back a sob. "Tim, come to the henhouse, please."

He didn't ask any more questions, just took off at a dead run ahead of her into the chicken yard.

OOO

"Good Lord," he said as he surveyed inside of the henhouse. It reminded him of the St. Valentine's Day massacre. Blood, feathers and chickens were everywhere. Slaughtered.

He turned his head, as he saw Emily cautiously opening the door. "Darlin', maybe you'd better wait outside."

"Tim, what happened?" Her eyes were still wide as she stood in the doorway.

"I don't know." He stepped gingerly over to the other side of the coop, peering into the nesting boxes. More dead chickens.

"Damn," he said under his breath. He noticed a piece of paper in one of the boxes and fished it out. "Animals first, who's next? Don't want to find out? Give up," he read aloud.

"What's that?"

"A threat." Tim walked back to her side. "This ain't no practical joke, that's for sure. Come on, honey. I'm getting you out of here."

As they stood inside the pen, Emily looked worriedly toward the farmhouse. "Aunt Susan can't see this. Those hens were like pets to her."

Tim nodded grimly. "I know." He gazed around. "I need to find Ed, but I don't want to leave you by yourself."

She took a long, shaky breath. "I'll be okay."

He shook his head. "No, honey. Whoever did this could still be close by. That blood was fairly fresh. I think it happened sometime this morning."

OOOoooOOO

Jake stared open-mouthed as Joe entered the barn, shirtless, and ATV-less. Joe returned the stare.

"Any reason you didn't tell me you keep a bull in the south pasture?"

"What?" Jake was startled. "There isn't a bull in that pasture."

"I beg to differ. He's black, has huge horns, snorts loudly, and right now is eating an ATV for lunch."

"Sawyer," Jake hissed.

"That the name of the non-existent bull?"

"How did he get out there?" Jake went over to the phone. "He's not kept anywhere near that pasture."

Joe shook his head and grabbed a flannel shirt hanging on a hook. "Can I borrow this?"

Jake nodded as he began dialing.

"Someone is playing a dangerous game around here," Joe muttered. "Maybe more dangerous than we thought." He stomped out of the barn and headed toward the farmhouse.

OOO

Emily stared at the blood on her hands, unable to get the scene in the henhouse out of her head. She shivered. "I wish Joe and Frank were here."

"Where'd they go?" Tim asked.

"In town to do some investigating." She looked up at him. "We need to call Sheriff Payne, too."

Tim nodded. "Maybe you should clean yourself up in the barn, then go back to the house and keep Susan there. I'll go find Ed and call the Sheriff."

"Yeah, I guess that's the..." Emily paused as she saw Joe walking across the front lawn of the farmhouse. She started to run toward him, but Tim held her back.

"Honey, don't go that way, your aunt will see you through the kitchen window."

OOO

Joe caught a flash of motion out of the corner of his eye, and looked up to see Tim grab Emily by the arm and pull her back toward him. What on earth was he doing?

Joe walked rapidly in their direction as Tim continued holding onto Emily while he spoke to her. When Joe came within twenty feet of them, he noticed her hands and clothes seemed to be covered in something red, and he sprinted forward.

Emily turned as he approached. "Joe, I'm so glad you're here."

Joe's eyes focused on Tim. "What the hell is going on?" He marched up to Emily and looked at her. "Is that blood, baby? Are you hurt?"

"No, Joe. Wait." She stepped in between him and Tim. "Something awful happened."

"What?"

She motioned for him to follow her and led him back to the henhouse. Joe walked through the door with Tim close behind him. Joe whistled low as he looked around. This was definitely something serious. A deliberate message delivered in a very violent way. The metallic smell of blood filled the air as Joe stared at dead chickens. Whoever did this was sick.

"I found this note." Tim handed it to Joe, interrupting his thoughts.

"Where?"

Tim gestured, "Over by the nesting boxes."

"You walked through here?" Joe's voice rose. This was not what he needed. Some jackass cowboy messing up the crime scene.

"Yeah, why not?"

"Clues, footprints, evidence."

Tim looked him straight in the eyes. "I walked over to the nest boxes and back. I didn't touch anything other than this note."

Joe sighed. "It's always better to leave evidence undisturbed until the police get to the crime scene."

"Yeah, well Emily came running out of here terrified, with blood all over her." Tim gave him a hard look. "Pardon me for wanting to make sure there was no one in here trying to hurt her."

Joe's tone softened. He would have done the same thing. "Sorry. Thanks for that."

"I didn't do it for you," he stated flatly.

Joe turned and looked around the henhouse. "Why were these the only chickens killed? Why not the ones in the yard?"

"These are the laying hens," Tim explained. "Kill them and you're out of eggs."

Joe nodded. "So this hurts the ranch economically then?"

Tim shrugged. "Not really. Susan has the chickens as a way to get eggs for the family and the ranch. She doesn't sell them."

"A personal warning then."

"She thinks of these chickens as pets."

"This is going to devastate her," Emily said, peeking in from just outside the henhouse door. Her eyes filled with tears. "How could anyone be so cruel?"

Joe looked at her liquid eyes and said softly, "Baby, why don't you wait out there? I need to check for clues."

"I'll sit with you Em," Tim offered. "Apparently, I'll only screw things up in here." He shot Joe a look as he exited the henhouse.

Joe was torn as he heard Emily's tearful voice and Tim's comforting tone in the chicken yard. He took a deep breath and set his insecurities aside for the moment.

He glanced around the henhouse. What kind of nut job were they dealing with? He examined a few chicken carcasses, and looked everywhere for a weapon the perpetrator might have used, but found nothing.

Checking out the floor closely, he did find some evidence of footprints in the blood, but they weren't clear enough to get a measurement or an imprint from. Joe bent down to examine one more closely. All this blood obviously made the floor wet. Whoever left this print slid and maybe even fell.

He noticed a rather large blood smear in the center of the henhouse. This would definitely have left a substantial stain on someone's clothing. Looked like he was going to have to do a laundry check.

OOO

Frank guided Nancy into the local diner behind Pete and Jamie Brookings. "Wow, it looks like the nineteen-forties in here," he said, gazing around.

"Well, you know how we feel about change," Jamie said as she sidled up to him.

"Counter okay?" Pete asked, as he took a seat on a stool.

"Oh, I love these things." Nancy spun herself around on the red-vinyl-covered stool in front of the long Formica countertop. "Dad used to take me to the drug store in River Heights every Saturday for lunch." She grinned at Frank. "I twirled around on these things until I was almost too sick to eat."

Frank gave her a big smile. "I can picture you doing that."

Jamie pushed a menu into his line of vision. "Try a milkshake, Frank. They're the best anywhere."

He was about to reply, when the door burst open and Sheriff Payne entered.

"What are you two doing here?" he addressed Nancy and Frank.

"Um, getting some lunch, why do you ask?" Frank thought the sheriff looked troubled. Something was up.

"I got a message from the ranch." The sheriff stepped behind the counter and picked up a phone, nodding to a red-headed waitress. "Tim says there's been some kind of incident."

Frank exchanged a worried glance with Nancy while the sheriff dialed a number. He hoped it was nothing serious, but by the look on Sheriff Payne's face, he felt it probably was.

"Yeah, Tim, this is Payne. What's up?" He turned away from the counter. "You're kidding? Yep, on my way." He hung up and looked at Frank. "I'm headed out there right now, and I think you two had better come along."

OOO

Twenty minutes later, Nancy strode over to the chicken yard, a half step behind Frank and Sheriff Payne. Joe, Tim and Ed were there to greet them.

"What's going on?" Frank asked his brother.

"Well, let's see, earlier this morning, I was almost killed by a bull loose in a pasture where he wasn't supposed to be. And now we have this. A pretty serious threat, if you ask me," Joe replied. "Have a look."

Nancy followed Frank and the sheriff through the gate of the poultry enclosure and into the henhouse. She gasped in horror and covered her mouth with her hands.

"Oh my gosh," she cried. "This is awful!"

"You shouldn't be in here, darlin'," the sheriff told her.

She instantly regretted her comment. "I'm fine. What happened?"

"Apparently Emily came in to gather the eggs this morning, and this is what she found," Ed gestured. He shook his head. "I don't know how my wife is going to deal with this."

"Where is she?" Nancy asked.

"In the house. Emily's with her."

Nancy tried to quell the nausea that was rising up in her. The stench in the henhouse was awful and the blood was making her knees weak.

She put her hand on a metal feed bin to steady herself and quickly pulled it away when she saw the blood. She swallowed hard and vowed that no matter what, she wasn't going to lose it. That would end the possibility of these cowboys ever taking her seriously as a detective.

She noticed Frank was staring at her, concern written all over his face. He moved close to her and put his arm firmly around her waist.

"I think we've seen all we need to see in here," Frank said. "Let's talk about this outside."

Nancy gave him a grateful look as they stepped back into the brilliant mid-day sunshine. She gulped in big breaths of fresh air as Joe handed Frank a note. "Tim found this in a nest box."

Frank scanned the two lines and gave it to Sheriff Payne. "It seems to threaten harm to someone on the ranch next."

"Yeah, it sure does." Sheriff Payne rubbed his chin, then turned to Tim. "And you say the blood was still wet when you came in?"

Tim nodded. "Must've happened this morning."

"Wouldn't the hens have made some sort of noise?" Joe asked.

Sheriff Payne shook his head. "Naw. These are fairly tame laying hens. Plus, if you kill a chicken right, you slit its throat. It won't make any noise."

Nancy made a face before she spoke. "Then, um, based on what you see with these chickens, the person knew what they were doing?"

"They're familiar with farm animals, that's for sure," the sheriff agreed.

"Well, that only narrows it down to just about everyone in the county," Frank said with a sigh.

"Yep, I'm afraid we've got our work cut out for us." The sheriff turned to Ed. "You got a camera? I'm gonna need some pictures."

Joe raised his hand. "I took care of that. You can have my film."

"Mighty kind of you," Sheriff Payne said. "Oh, and I'd appreciate your help if you can give it." He smiled at Nancy. "You too, Missy."

She smiled back, feeling victorious. And overjoyed that she hadn't thrown up on his shoes. "I knew you'd see the light."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: **Thanks to zenfrodo, Caranath, KennaC, Jackie, Vinsmouse, bhar and unobtrusivescribe for the reviews! You made my day! And, as always, thanks for reading!

Chapter 7

Emily had returned to the farmhouse where she'd changed out of her clothes and washed the blood off her hands. She'd felt a bit like Lady MacBeth, thinking that no matter how much she scrubbed, she would always see her hands covered in it.

She took her clothes down to the laundry room where she was hoping she could get the blood out of her jeans and shirt. She'd sprayed them with stain remover and was vigorously rubbing it in, when Joe appeared at the laundry room door.

"Hey, baby," he greeted her.

Tears sprang to Emily's eyes when she heard the soft tone of his voice. He understood. He knew discovering the mess in the henhouse had been awful for her, and that she'd spent the last half hour desperately trying not to lose it.

She swallowed hard as Joe approached and ran his hand soothingly over her back. The tears were threatening to fall now, and she didn't want that to happen. He didn't have time to be worrying about her. He had work to do. She would be fine, she told herself firmly. She blinked furiously and turned from the washing machine. "Hi. What's going on out there now?"

Joe pulled her close and hugged her tenderly, ignoring her question. "I'm sorry you had to see that, honey."

Emily nodded against his shoulder, unable to control her emotions any longer. Joe held her quietly, kissing her hair and the side of her head and murmuring words of reassurance. After a minute or two, she took a deep breath to steady herself and moved back slightly. "Thank you."

Joe smiled and with his thumb, gently wiped away an errant tear from her cheek . "No thanks necessary. I'm always here for you."

"I know, and I appreciate that. But right now I think you should focus on this case." She stepped out of his embrace and sprayed more stain remover on her jeans. "I'll wait until tonight when we're in the cabin to fall apart, okay?"

Joe smiled and leaned in for a kiss. "I promise I'll be there to make you feel better."

"Deal," Emily said with a wobbly smile. "So, back to my question…what's going on out there?"

Joe leaned against the dryer. "Sheriff Payne is finishing up. He won't find anything though. Whoever did this was very careful not to leave any clues behind."

"Except for the note." Emily stuffed her jeans into the washing machine along with some other laundry from a nearby basket.

"Yeah, and I definitely didn't like the tone of that." Joe sighed. "How's your aunt?"

"Awful. She wanted to go out there, but I wouldn't let her. That would have been too much." Susan had retreated to her bedroom. Emily still wasn't sure whether to go up there and try and comfort her or let her cry it out in peace. She actually wasn't sure Aunt Susan could be comforted at the moment.

Joe nodded. "Ed and Tim are going to clean up the henhouse."

"Good," she replied, starting the washer. "The sooner the better." Emily definitely wanted to get that visual out of her head, although she was almost certain it would never disappear completely.

"Honey, is this the only washing machine on the ranch?"

"Um, no. There's one down by the barns. For work clothes. They're just too dirty from all the manure and mud to mix with the everyday laundry. Why?"

"Well, I did find one clue," Joe said. "Whoever did that to the chickens slipped in the blood and fell. It would be all over their clothes."

Emily closed her eyes briefly, recalling the bloody henhouse floor again. She forced the image out of her head and smiled at Joe. "Has anyone ever told you that you're a genius?"

"Not today. And Frank rarely says it." Joe grinned. "He gets so jealous."

Emily giggled. "Then let me be the first." She kissed him softly. "The washing machine is in the shed just to the east of the main barn."

"Want to come with me?"

She shook her head. "I feel like I need to stay here with my aunt. She's so upset by all of this. I know she won't be able to do anything else around here today, and there's so many things to keep up with." She reached out for Joe. "I'm sorry. I'd rather be helping you work on the case."

"No apologizing," Joe said, hugging her tightly. "Your aunt needs you now. You're doing the right thing."

"I know, but I feel like I should be contributing more. These are my relatives, after all."

"Sweetheart, stop. You're feeling guilty when you don't have to," Joe said. "Besides, Frank and Nancy need to do something to keep them busy or they'd just be locked in their bedroom having non-stop sex all day long. And you definitely don't want your aunt accidentally walking in on that." Joe winked at her.

Emily giggled, knowing he was trying to lighten her mood. "Okay, I see your point. But make sure to come back in an hour and I'll have lunch for you."

"Deal." He grinned and pulled her to him for another quick hug and a kiss.

OOOoooOOO

Nancy entered the cabin around four in the afternoon and plopped herself down on the oversized sofa. She was bone-tired. She had spent almost the entire day searching all around the henhouse and the farmyard until her back and knees were aching. She finally admitted that there was nothing to be found and that she'd mentally reached her limit. "I'm exhausted," she said to Emily who was headed into the kitchen.

"Right there with you," Emily echoed. She grabbed a soft drink from the fridge. "Do you want one?"

"Please," Nancy said gratefully, putting her feet up on the coffee table.

Emily filled up two glasses with ice and poured soda pop over them. She handed one to Nancy and sank down into the large armchair opposite her. "Did you find any clues around the chicken coop?"

Nancy shook her head. "No. I crawled all over that place until my knees gave out, but there was nothing there." She chewed on her lower lip in frustration. Whoever was behind this definitely had the upper hand. They needed a break in this case and fast.

"That's what I was afraid of," Emily said with a sigh.

"How's your aunt doing?"

"A little better," Emily said. "We haven't mentioned the note to her though. That would've finished her off."

"No doubt. Do you know if Joe's had any luck with his laundry theory?"

"No," Emily replied. "He still could though. Whoever did it might be hiding the clothes somewhere on the ranch."

"Yeah, Frank and Joe went off to search the barns and sheds while I looked around the farmhouse with Sheriff Payne. I think I may have actually gotten him to think that I'm not just playing detective."

"Well, that would be a huge accomplishment," Emily said with a smile.

"I still have a long way to go," Nancy admitted. "But I'll get there. I just hope Frank and Joe have better luck with their search than I did with mine." She sighed inwardly. Unfortunately, the ranch was so huge that whoever did it could have dropped the clothes right in an open pasture, and they still wouldn't be found.

Emily sipped her drink. "They're going to be starving when they get back here. I'd better see what we have in the fridge."

"We're not eating at the farmhouse?"

Emily hoisted herself up and walked into the kitchen. "Aunt Susan wasn't up to cooking anything, and I didn't think she'd want a bunch of company either, so I told Uncle Ed that we would eat here." She opened the one of the cabinets. "How do you feel about pasta?"

"Sounds great," Nancy replied. "Can I help? I'm not much of a cook, but I'll try if you want me to." She stood and walked over to the kitchen counter, taking a seat on one of the bar stools.

Emily smiled. "No, that's okay. I'll just throw something together really fast." She rummaged through the refrigerator. "There are peppers in here. How do you feel about ziti with roasted red pepper cream sauce?"

"Wow, you can make that? Without a recipe? I'm impressed."

"Anyone can cook. It's not rocket science." She grabbed a baking pan, turned on the oven, and smiled. "Not everybody can follow random clues and catch desperate criminals though."

Nancy laughed. "You have your thing, I have mine."

Emily washed the peppers, sliced them in half, then poured some olive oil in the baking pan. "While these roast, I think I'm going to get changed out of my dusty clothes."

"Exactly what I'm going to do. And then afterwards maybe you can help me figure out how to stop Jamie from mauling Frank." Nancy shook her head. "You should have seen her in the feed store today."

"A little forward?"

Nancy arched an eyebrow. "More than a little." And the more she thought about it, the more it got on her nerves.

Emily put the peppers in the oven. "I'll gladly help you with that. Although I don't think Frank is going to let her get away with too much before he tells her off."

Nancy smiled slyly. "Well that's just it. I want to have that pleasure."

Emily laughed. "Sounds like a plan."

OOOoooOOO

Frank leaned against the weathered wood inside a garage that held farm equipment, resting for a moment while he mentally sorted through what they knew so far about this case. He looked up as he heard his brother swear from the back of the building.

"I don't know Frank," Joe called out. "I'm starting to think this is just an exercise in frustration." He emerged from behind some tractor wheels. "We're not going to find anything."

"Well, apparently not in here, we're not," Frank agreed. He stared at his brother, now coated with tractor grease, dirt, sawdust and dried blood, and suppressed a smile. "Let's try the barn."

Joe sighed. "And then we're done. This is like looking for a needle in a haystack."

"Okay," Frank said. "But if we don't check, we'll always wonder if we missed something."

Joe forcefully threw down a rag he'd been wiping his hands with and glared at his brother as he walked past him and out the door.

"You hate it when I'm right, don't you?" Frank called after him.

"Shut up," Joe replied, heading to the barn.

OOOoooOOO

Emily had finished roasting the red peppers, and was sealing them in plastic bags to sweat, so she could remove their charred skins, when Nancy came back into the kitchen.

"Sorry, I couldn't resist the lure of a hot shower," Nancy said, finger-combing her wet hair.

"Me neither," Emily confessed. "Although mine was way too short." She reached for a cutting board and a knife. "I could have stayed in there forever."

Nancy returned to her seat on the barstool at the kitchen counter. "So, you know everyone around here pretty well. Who do you suspect?"

Emily shook her head as she began to chop an onion. When she'd asked Joe to help with this, it never occurred to her that the culprit might be someone she knew, and she really never thought it might be someone on the ranch. "Honestly, I have no idea. What did you learn in town today?"

Nancy picked up the soft drink glass she'd had earlier and took a sip. "Not a lot. Although R.B. in the feed store did say there was some concern over your aunt and uncle opening up the ranch to guests." She traced her finger around the rim of the glass. "He said it wasn't any big deal though. Nobody was out-and-out mad over it."

Emily smiled as she scraped the onion into a bowl and reached for a clove of garlic. "Well, R.B. couldn't hurt a fly, that's for sure."

Nancy looked up at her. "He did mention that his son Charlie had a crush on you."

Emily laughed. "Yes, he did. And he once jumped off the roof of Uncle Ed's tool shed in some sort of misguided attempt to prove that to me. He broke his collarbone."

"How old was he?" Nancy asked with a chuckle.

Emily put the minced garlic into a bowl with the onion and rolled her eyes. "Old enough to know better." He'd been sixteen. She shook her head. "He stood up on the tool shed and shouted, 'Look Em, I'm your Superman!' Right before he hit the dirt. Hard. The wrong way."

"Typical male." Nancy smiled and set her drink on the counter. "So, if you can't think of anyone in town that might be responsible, how about someone on the ranch?"

Emily's eyes clouded. "Nancy if it was someone on this ranch, it would absolutely break my heart." She couldn't even think about what would happen if someone she loved ended up being arrested for committing a crime. A crime she'd asked her boyfriend to investigate. She would feel responsible for everything. She knew that didn't make one iota of sense, but…. Emily looked up at Nancy. "I can't even imagine it. But someone is behind this, and it needs to stop. Now."

OOOoooOOO

Frank tried hard to stifle a smile as he heard Joe groan. He was positive his brother had stepped in yet another pile of horse manure in the barn.

"This can't possibly get any worse," Joe grumbled, wiping his boots in the straw.

"Find something?" Frank asked.

"Yeah, but not what we're looking for." Joe sighed. "I'm tired of digging through straw."

"Fine," Frank told him. "I'll finish the stalls." He looked around. "You climb up there." He gestured toward the haymow.

Joe rolled his eyes. "As long as there are no animals, I'm good." He started for the ladder while Frank entered the stall of one of the cutting horses.

He examined the stall carefully. It belonged to Tim's horse. A small piece of paper caught his eye, and he picked it up. Emily's name was scrawled on it, with a heart drawn around it. Good thing Joe hadn't searched in here, he thought as he shoved it into the front pocket of his jeans.

"Frank!"

"Did you find something?"

"Get up here!"

Frank scrambled up the ladder and jumped onto the second floor of the barn.

"What is it?"

"Over here," Joe gestured from the far corner of the hay loft.

Frank hurried over to him. Joe pointed to a pile of farm clothes, hidden carefully under a stack of hay, covered with blood.

"Good work." Frank kneeled down beside him.

"It was your idea to search here," Joe said with a grin.

Frank chuckled. "So, you're admitting I'm right?"

"This time." Joe looked around. "We just can't go waltzing out of here with these tucked under our arm, though."

"No, whoever left them here is definitely going to be back when he feels things have died down." Frank spied a large feedbag hanging on a hook. He walked over and grabbed it. "Think this'll work?"

Joe shrugged. "I don't see why not." He carefully lifted the plaid shirt and overalls and shoved them into the bag as Frank held it open. "Let's get out of here. We can examine the clothes later."

"I agree," Frank said, cinching the bag closed.

He looked at Joe and started laughing. All the filth he'd been covered with now had straw sticking to it. Frank definitely owed him for doing the grunt work of the investigation today. "You look like some sort of deranged scarecrow."

Joe glanced down at his clothes. "I am kind of a mess, aren't I?"

Frank headed down the ladder, carefully tucking the feedbag under his arm. "Kind of? Wait until Emily sees you."

Joe grinned as he followed his brother down to the main floor of the barn. "Good thing she loves me."

"Yeah, we'll see how much," Frank retorted.

Joe heard some straw crunching near the main entrance of the barn and looked up to see Jake leaning against the doorframe.

"What were you doing up there?" Jake asked with narrowed eyes. "And what are you carrying?"


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: **Thanks so much to Caranath, unobtrusive, Jackie, KennaC, zenfrodo, Leya and Vinsmouse for your reviews! You made me a happy girl! And thank you to those reading!

Chapter 8

While Emily puréed the peppers in a blender, Nancy sat silent on the bar stool. She'd been mentally cataloging each person she'd met on the ranch and asking what possible motive they might have for vandalism. And she was coming up empty.

"Nance?"

She looked at Emily who was now adding the peppers to her skillet.

"How seriously should we take that threat on the note in the henhouse today?"

Nancy sipped her drink. "Pretty seriously, I'd say."

Emily sighed, and walked to the sink to fill a stockpot with water. "Do you think the implication is that whoever is doing this will hurt a person next?"

"It kind of sounded that way." She watched as Emily set the stockpot on another burner and turned on the heat. She really didn't want to say anything to upset her, but she felt she owed Emily the truth. "They may still injure more of your Uncle's animals though."

Emily stirred the pepper sauce. "Whoever could do what they did to those chickens is clearly a sick person."

Nancy watched as Emily reached into the fridge for some cream and slowly poured it into the skillet. She knew Emily was having a hard time processing all of this. Nancy figured the perpetrator had to be someone close to Emily. She also knew that Emily wasn't prepared to deal with that. What happened in the henhouse was vicious and didn't jibe with what Emily knew of her loved ones. This case was going to end up being very emotional. She could just feel it.

"I'm really scared about what might happen next," Emily admitted.

Nancy nodded. "This has definitely gone past the point of simple vandalism." She set her glass down and turned to the front door. "I wonder where Frank and Joe are? Don't you think they should be here by now?"

Emily's eyes widened. "Do you think they're in trouble?"

"No," Nancy assured her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you."

Nancy walked over to the picture window in the living room and stared outside. They were fine. They had to be. They were only going to search some outbuildings. Why did she feel like something was off? She brushed her feelings aside. Frank and Joe were professionals. She didn't have anything to worry about. "I'm sure they'll be here any minute now."

OOOoooOOO

"Hi, Jake," Joe said. "I didn't hear you come in." Shit. How on earth were they going to get out of this?

"Obviously," he replied. "Now answer my question. What are you two doing here?"

Frank cleared his throat. "I don't think we're required to report to you, but if you must know, Joe was getting something for Emily."

"Oh yeah, what?" Jake asked, stepping closer to them.

Joe pointed to the feedbag Frank was holding. "This. She said she needed it and told us where to get one." _Wow, that was lame. He won't buy it. I wouldn't._

Jake narrowed his eyes. "What does she want a feedbag for?"

Joe shrugged his shoulders as he walked past him. "I don't know. I didn't ask." Best to play the ignorant card. As long as it got him out the door, he didn't care how stupid he looked at the moment.

Frank chuckled. "Sometimes it's just better that way."

Joe exited the barn along with Frank, and as he walked away he could feel Jake's eyes gazing steadily after him.

OOOoooOOO

"Here they come," Nancy said to Emily, her voice a mixture of excitement and relief. That feeling of apprehension she'd had was clearly unfounded. Maybe the chicken slaughter had her more on edge than normal. It was more blood than she'd ever seen in one place before, that was for sure.

"Thank goodness," Emily said with a sigh. "Do they look okay?"

Nancy started laughing. "Well, maybe you'd better come see for yourself."

Emily turned down the heat on her pasta sauce to low and hurried over to Nancy as she opened the front door.

OOO

"Hey, baby," Joe called out as he walked down the slate path to the cabin's entrance.

"Joe!" Emily looked stunned. "What on earth happened? You're filthy!"

"Just a little investigating." He stepped closer to her and she wrinkled up her nose. He must look worse than he thought. Or maybe it was the way he smelled.

"What were you investigating? Manure?" she asked.

"A little." He reached for her, and Emily jumped away, laughing.

"Oh, no you don't!" She swatted at him. "Shower first."

"Did you find anything?" Nancy asked.

"We did," Frank replied. "How about we take a look after we get cleaned up?"

"And eat," Joe added. "I'm starving." Something from the kitchen had tickled his nose and was making his stomach rumble. Something that smelled a whole lot better than he did at the moment.

"I'm making your dinner," Emily informed him. "So, go around to the patio and take off those icky clothes."

"Come help me?" Joe winked. He was happy to resist the lure of food for something better. Like the lure of Emily cleaning him up in the shower. Naked. And wet.

She giggled. "I have to finish cooking the pasta. But I'm pretty sure you can handle it on your own."

Damn. Joe handed Emily the feedbag. "The evidence," he said with a smile. "Keep it safe."

The girls' eyes got big and they hustled into the living room and closed the door behind them.

"I'm hitting the shower," Joe said to Frank. "Even I can't stand the way I smell."

"Yeah, I feel pretty gross myself." Frank agreed. "Meet you in the chow line in fifteen minutes."

OOOoooOOO

Nancy was peering into the feedbag while Emily finished boiling the pasta. "It's the clothes," she said excitedly. "They have the bloodstained clothes." Maybe this was it. The break they'd been looking for.

"You're kidding me. They really managed to find them?"

"Do you think you might know who they belong to?" Nancy asked, as she sat on the living room floor, bag in hand.

"I'm not sure." Emily brought some silverware over to the table. "I'll be happy to look though, as soon as I finish this."

Nancy was torn. She wanted to rip open the bag right now and check the evidence, but she felt guilty for not doing anything at all to help with dinner.

She stood, walked to the sink, and washed her hands. "Here, let me get those," she said, gesturing to the plates Emily was holding. "I can't cook, but I do know how to set a table."

"Man, something smells awesome!" Joe said, coming out of the bedroom dressed in clean jeans and a white t-shirt, his hair still damp from the shower.

Emily met him as she carried the bowl of pasta from the kitchen. "It's your supper." She set it on the table and turned to him.

Joe grinned and pulled her in for a kiss. "Mmmm, I missed you today."

"Hey, no making out at the table," Frank teased as he entered the room, buttoning his shirt. "The rest of us have to eat."

"So tell us about the clothes," Nancy said, impatience finally winning out over manners, as Frank pulled out her chair for her.

Joe related how they'd found them, and how Jake had questioned them as they left the barn.

"Do you think he did it?" Nancy asked. Jake was on her suspect list. Not for anything in particular. Except that "don't worry your pretty little head about it" comment the other day. That still rankled her.

Emily's eyes clouded and she bent her head down over her plate. "I can't imagine that."

Frank cleared his throat. "I didn't get that feeling from him. I honestly think he seemed suspicious of us."

Emily looked up. "Listen, I know you're here to investigate, and I know that means everyone I love is a suspect." She sighed. "I wish that weren't true, but it is. And I want to know who's doing this, so please don't tiptoe around the facts because you think you might hurt my feelings."

Joe took her hand and squeezed it. "We won't, honey. But we don't want to accuse anyone until we're sure." He ate another mouthful of pasta. "And the only thing we're sure of right now is–"

"That we're not sure of anything," Frank finished. "Except for this dinner. This is really good." He smiled at Emily.

"Well, what about those clothes?" Nancy asked. She jumped up from the table, unable to restrain herself any longer from examining them. She pulled them carefully out of the feedbag. "They're men's overalls."

Emily walked over to take a look at them. "Those are the ones my uncle keeps in the barn."

"What do you mean?" Frank asked.

"I mean that he always has three or four of these and some shirts hanging on hooks inside the barn. That way if anyone needs them, they're available."

"So anyone could have used these," Frank surmised with a sigh.

Emily nodded and Nancy sat back as she tossed the overalls on the floor. Another strike-out.

Before anyone could say anything else, the telephone rang. Joe stood to answer it.

"Hello? This is Joe. What? When? Yeah, listen don't touch it anymore, we'll be right up." He hung up and turned toward the dinner table. "That was Ed. Apparently he just got a package with some sort of threat in it."

OOOoooOOO

"Found it right here on the front porch," Ed said, as Frank examined an old shoebox with a note in it.

"And this is all that was in it?" Joe asked.

Ed nodded.

Frank read it aloud. "Some say the world will end in fire. Some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire." Swell. A vandalizing poet. He wasn't sure where to go with this.

"That's Robert Frost," Emily spoke up.

"Someone you know?" Ed asked her.

Emily smiled. "No, he's a famous poet. Those are the first lines of his poem, 'Fire and Ice.'"

Ed chuckled. "I don't have much occasion to be readin' poetry out here."

"What do you suppose it means?" Joe asked.

Frank shook his head as he scanned the lines again. "I'm not sure. It's pretty cryptic." Whoever was doing this was taunting them. And if his past experience was any indication, criminals who enjoyed taunting their victims weren't a good thing. They tended to be cocky and do things that were really rash. They were attention seekers.

Nancy took the note from Frank. "Is someone going to try and set your house on fire?"

"I hope not." A look of concern crossed Ed's face.

"Does Aunt Susan know about this?" Emily asked.

"No," Ed said firmly. "And I ain't telling her."

"I agree," Emily said with a sigh. "Well, what do we do now?"

Frank examined the box the note arrived in. "This wasn't mailed, so someone dropped it off. Did you notice anything or anyone suspicious around here this afternoon?" Because if someone delivered this personally, it meant they weren't afraid to be seen around the ranch. It had to be someone who worked here or someone Ed and Susan knew well. He wasn't sure how Ed would take that bit of information. Frank didn't want to risk insulting the rancher at the moment, so he remained silent about it.

"No, but I wasn't here this afternoon. We were working calves," Ed told him.

"Who was with you?" Joe asked.

"Almost all the cowboys. Tim, Jake, John, and some others."

"Do you mind if we keep this?" Frank asked. He wanted to examine it more closely.

"No. I'd rather you take it, then have Susan find it," Ed said.

Frank nodded. "Okay, well we're going back to the cabin and see what we can come up with."

"I'd appreciate it before things get any worse around here."

Frank tried to keep the grimace off his face as he shook Ed's hand. Based on what he'd just deduced about this criminal…he was almost certain things were going to get worse. Unless they caught this loser quickly. And they weren't even close to doing that. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. He really thought this was going to be a simple case when they'd first arrived. It was turning out to be just the opposite.

OOOoooOOO

Later that evening, after hashing and rehashing every available clue with Frank, Joe, and Emily, and concluding nothing, Nancy gave up with the rest of them and decided to retire for the evening. Maybe a good night's sleep would give her some perspective.

"I wish we had something, Frank. Anything," Nancy said, unbuttoning her white shirt and removing it as Frank entered the room. "I feel like we're letting Emily's aunt and uncle down."

Frank sighed. "Yeah, I know." He stripped off his clothes down to his boxers and lay on the bed, propped up against his pillows.

"How on earth are we going to figure out who's doing this if we don't even know why someone is doing this?" Nancy slipped off her shorts and stepped into the bathroom. She hated it when nothing was happening on a case. She felt that the criminals were winning…and gloating about it. That drove her nuts.

"Things would certainly be easier if we had a motive."

"It's just so frustrating." Nancy brushed her teeth and then slipped on one of Frank's old t-shirts before entering the bedroom. She plopped down on the bed next to him. "It's stressing me out."

Frank slid his arms around her. "Oh, well then let me help you release some of that stress." His mouth found hers and he kissed her deeply.

She giggled and ran her hands over his well muscled chest. "Stress is no good?" Mmmm, he was so incredibly sexy. Her hands slid down his arms, feeling his biceps bunch as he caressed her. She was going to have to seriously think about changing her living situation. Being in River Heights while Frank was hundreds of miles away in Bayport most of the time was not working for her anymore.

"Stress is bad," he murmured against her lips. He opened his mouth over hers and slid his hands under her t-shirt running them restlessly over her bare back.

She gasped as they broke apart. "Frank..." She could hardly form a coherent sentence. How did he do that to her so quickly? Her breath caught in her throat as his hand moved to gently caress the side of her breast.

"Hmmm?" He pressed his lips along her neck, leaving a trail of kisses.

She took his head into her hands and kissed him hard. "I don't know how you make me so crazy so fast, but you do."

He grinned at her. "It's a Hardy talent." He raised his eyebrows at her.

"Oh really?" She gently pushed him back onto his pillow and leaned over him.

"Really," he said with a mock sigh. "It's completely beyond my control."

"Mmm hmm." Nancy smiled seductively. "I have a few hidden talents of my own, you know." She brushed her lips over his shoulder, then lazily ran her hands over the taut muscles of his chest.

Frank reached over to the night table and turned off the light. "Well, let's start discovering them." He swept her into his arms and kissed her, as he pulled the covers over their heads.

OOOoooOOO

The ringing of a telephone yanked Emily from the grasp of sleep. She opened her eyes and glanced at the bedside table. The phone jangled again. She looked down at Joe, who was slumbering peacefully, and untangled herself from him enough to reach the receiver.

"Hello?" she whispered.

"Emily, is that you, darlin'?"

"Yeah." She rubbed her eyes. "Who's this?"

"It's Tim. Honey, listen, we have an emergency."

She sat up straight, and Joe groaned next to her.

"What's the matter?" she asked Tim.

"Prairie fire in the western pasture." His voice was crisp. "We need everyone. Can you get Frank and Joe and have them meet us at the barn?"

Emily clutched the receiver tightly. A prairie fire with all the dry grass of late summer around them would be a disaster. She knew Ed had been planning a controlled burn for later this week, just for that reason.

"Who is it, baby?" Joe mumbled, a little too loudly.

Emily covered the receiver, a little too late.

"Who was that?" Tim asked sharply.

"Never mind," she said. "We'll meet you at the barn."

She hung up the phone and turned to Joe. "We need to get going fast. This is serious."

OOOoooOOO

Nancy saw Ed running from the barn at a fast clip when she hurried over with Frank, Joe, and Emily, ten minutes after Joe had awakened them.

"What are you two doin' here?" Ed called out, pointing to Nancy and Emily. .

"Trying to help," Nancy stated. She could feel the panic and urgency in the air. Cowboys were running everywhere, carrying all sorts of equipment. Hoses, gloves, sprayers, and shovels were being loaded onto trucks and ATVs all around her, and the look on everybody's face was grim.

"Just get in the truck and stay out of the way," Ed said abruptly. "Frank? Joe? Get over here."

For the moment, Nancy chose to ignore the fact that Ed clearly thought women didn't belong anywhere near a prairie fire, and instead scrambled into the cab of a nearby pickup truck with Emily. She turned to watch as Frank and Joe helped Ed load several portable water tanks into the truck bed.

"Wow, this is chaos," Nancy commented. Suddenly it dawned on her what was happening. "'Some say the world will end in fire.'"

Emily's eyes were wild and look on her face was one of terror . "Nancy, this is really starting to scare me."

Nancy opened the door and jumped down from the cab. She caught up with Frank who was coming out of the barn, his arms loaded down with hoses. "Frank!" She grabbed his arm. "Frank, this is the warning...the world will end in fire."

"I know," he said grimly. "Nan, you shouldn't be here. I want you safe. Go up to the farmhouse."

She crossed her arms in front of her and stared hard at him. Oh, no. He was not getting away with that comment.

"Fine," Frank said. "Then get in the truck."

She spun on her heels and climbed back into the cab, as an older cowboy started the engine.

"Hi, darlin'," he said to her. "I didn't know I was going to have two pretty girls to ride with."

"This is Buck," Emily said by way of introduction, as he pulled the truck away from the barn.

OOO

Joe hopped onto the back of Buck's pick-up, making room so Frank could climb in next to him, and scanned the horizon as they drove away.

"There wasn't much time between the warning and the fire," Joe shouted to Frank over the roar of the diesel engine.

"No, and the crimes are getting progressively more serious," Frank shouted back. "This is far more than vandalism."

"Yeah." Joe took note of all the Bluestem grass surrounding them, waving in the breeze. "This stuff is tall and dry," he gestured to Frank. "It's going to burn fast."

Frank nodded, then looked forward as the truck crested a large hill. "Joe!" he called out, pointing.

Joe turned around and saw an ominous orange glow on the horizon. "Oh, shit."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: **Thanks for the wonderful feedback, Caranath, Jackie, unobtrusive, zenfrodo, KennaC, Leya and Vinsmouse! Shorter chapter today. Thank you to all who are continuing to read!

Chapter 9

Nancy turned as Buck opened the door to the pickup, the heat from the fire filling the cab. "Man, this is a bad one," he said, shaking his head.

She exited through the passenger side door, followed by Emily, and stood gaping at the blaze.

"Holy…!" Nancy stared as cowboys began unreeling the hoses from the back of the spray trucks and aiming the water at the flames. She'd never seen anything like this. The fire was eating up the pasture, the dry grass of late summer burning quickly. It reminded her of an ocean wave as it moved along, consuming everything in its path.

She glanced at Joe and Frank who had jumped down from the back of the truck, awaiting instructions from Ed.

"Get the hell back in that truck and don't get out again," Ed called to her and Emily. "Frank, Joe, get on that spray truck." He gestured to a green pickup with a large tank in its bed parked in front of Buck's.

Nancy and Emily climbed into the cab of the pickup they'd been riding in for the third time, as Buck put the truck in gear. "You two have got to stop disappearing on me," he said with a chuckle as he pulled forward.

Nancy clutched Emily's arm. "We're driving straight into that inferno."

Emily nodded. "It's getting bigger."

Nancy leaned forward, trying to peer through the windshield as Buck turned the truck to ride parallel with the blaze. She watched Frank and Joe jump down, manning the hoses and spraying into the flames, holding their free arms up to shield themselves against the intense heat. "This is crazy," she whispered. "They could get killed."

Buck overheard Nancy. "Aw, honey, don't you go worrying none. Guys love doin' this."

She sighed deeply. "I'm sure it satisfies some ridiculous, male, pyromaniacal urge, but I still think it's insane."

"We gotta put it out, darlin'," Buck said, pulling the truck forward a little more. "Otherwise the whole damn ranch will burn down."

OOOoooOOO

"Give it some slack," Ed hollered down to Joe. "Spray it at the base of the flames."

_Damn,_ Joe thought, as he wrestled with the hose against what felt like impossibly searing heat. _This is not what I was expecting_. He glanced at his brother, his face grim, the sweat pouring off him as he struggled against the blaze.

"Follow the truck. Spray as you go," Ed ordered.

Joe aimed the hose at the base of a four foot crackling wall of fire. _How are we ever going to beat this?_

OOOoooOOO

Emily lurched forward in her seat when Buck applied the brakes abruptly as they chased the fire over some rocky terrain. She raised her hand to her mouth as the truck stopped mere inches from Frank and Joe.

"Be careful, Buck. Please." Her voice was anxious.

"Don't worry, sweetie, I've been doin' this longer than you've been alive." He accelerated again, bouncing the girls violently in their seats.

"I hate this," Emily hissed to Nancy. Prairie fires always set her teeth on edge. She'd seen how they could turn on a dime, and hoped that the backfires she knew her uncle was lighting would keep the flames away and help the fire to burn itself out.

"It looks like they're standing at the gates of hell," Nancy said.

Suddenly there was a loud popping noise and the flames right next to the pickup shot into the air. The truck Frank and Joe were manning lurched forward and they ran along behind it.

"Are they okay?" Emily asked, her heart beating a mile a minute.

"They're fine," Buck assured her, waving his hand.

A crackling noise came over the CB radio in the truck. "Buck, you're on fire! You're on fire, Buck! Get the hell out of that truck!"

"Oh, damn!" Buck yelled, his voice anything but reassuring. "We gotta get out." He gave Emily a shove. "Get out of the truck, darlin'. Now!"

Nancy managed to open the door, stumble out of the vehicle and straight down an embankment. Emily followed closely behind her. She stood up, dusty and coughing, and realized they were blocked by flames less than fifteen feet from them.

"Where do we go?" Emily called out. The smoke was thick around her and she couldn't tell in which direction she should move. If they went the wrong way, they would be trapped by the flames. Panic began to set in as the smoke filled her lungs and impaired her breathing. She coughed violently, knowing she didn't have much time to make a decision.

"I don't know," Nancy replied. "I can't see anyone."

Emily couldn't answer her, the smoke was closing off her airway. She reached out for Nancy in the haze, her vision growing black around the edges.

"Emily!" Nancy called out. "What do we do?"

Emily turned as she thought she heard the clattering of horse hooves headed toward them. She shielded her face from the searing heat, and through the smoke saw Tim appear at a full gallop, one arm extended out to her. He leaned down and snatched her up easily as he passed, pulling her onto his saddle and holding her close.

"Nancy!" Emily choked out.

"Jake's got her," Tim said. "Hold still, sweetie."

Emily stopped trying to twist away when Tim tightened his arm around her, clutching her securely to him. They rode until they were far enough away from the flames to be safe. Tim pulled up on the reins and the horse slowed to a stop.

"You scared the hell out of me," Tim said to Emily as they waited for Jake and Nancy to catch up to them. "What on earth are you doing on a fire line?"

Emily couldn't reply. Her breath was still coming in gasps as she tried to fill her lungs with the now clean air surrounding her. She'd been moments away from death, and she knew it. If she'd passed out, no one would have found her. And Nancy would have died, too. The terror and panic she was feeling only intensified as she looked around her. It seemed like the entire world was on fire.

"Are you okay?" Tim stared into her eyes, then pulled her against him. "Don't worry, honey. Everything's going to be just fine."

Jake came up right behind Tim. Nancy's arms were around his neck and she was visibly shaking. "I guess we got to you two just in time," Jake said to Emily as he looked back at the blaze.

Buck's truck was completely incinerated, only a shell remaining where they'd been sitting moments ago. Emily shivered at the sight and the sudden coolness of the air surrounding her. The temperature away from the fire had dropped considerably. Tim tightened his grip on her. She heard some static coming over the walkie-talkie attached to his belt and reached for it.

"Hang on, darlin'," Tim said with a chuckle. "What do you need?"

"Joe," Emily said, coughing to try and clear the hoarseness from her voice. "I want to talk to Joe." She was sick with worry. He and Frank had been right there when the fire jumped. She was desperate to make sure he was all right.

Tim sighed as he unclipped his walkie-talkie. He held it up to his mouth. "Ed?"

"Tim? Where are you?" Ed's voice crackled back.

"About fifty yards behind you," he replied. "Jake and I have the girls."

Emily could hear her uncle sigh with relief. "Good. Then keep them the hell away from here, please."

"Will do," Tim responded. He glanced down at Emily, who mouthed 'Joe' to him. "Listen Ed, Em wants to talk to Joe. Is he there?"

"Frank, too, please," Nancy called out.

"And Frank," Tim added.

"Hang on," Ed told him.

Momentarily, Joe's voice came over the airwaves. "Emily? Are you okay? Where are you?"

Emily could feel his panic right through the walkie-talkie. "I'm fine. Don't worry," she replied shakily. "Joe, please be careful."

"I'm fine, as long as I know you're safe. I love you, baby."

"Love you," she said.

She handed the walkie-talkie to a grim faced Tim, who tossed it to Jake. Nancy grabbed it from him.

"Frank?" she called out, her voice sounding anxious.

"I'm here, honey," he responded. "Listen, you stay safe and away from this fire, understand?"

"Gladly," Nancy replied. "And I want you back as soon as possible and in once piece, too. Got it?"

"Got it," Frank said. "I love you, Nan, and I'll see you in a little while."

"I love you, Hardy," she said, softly, before handing the walkie-talkie back to Jake.

Jake smiled down at her. "He's a damn lucky guy and I hope he knows it."

Tim turned his horse and walked him over to a nearby pickup truck. He dismounted, then helped Emily down just as Nancy and Jake rode up next to them. The four of them paused for a moment, surveying the inferno.

"It's moving away from here," Tim said. "You'll be safe in this truck."

"Are you going back?" Emily asked.

Tim gave her a lazy grin. "Have to. It's my job."

"Be careful."

"I will."

Emily touched his arm lightly. "And thank you, Tim. Thank you for helping me."

He put his arms around her and hugged her tightly. "Any time, darlin'. You know that." He opened the door to the truck and helped her inside. "You stay right here, you understand?"

Emily nodded and glanced at Nancy who was climbing in on the passenger side.

Jake leaned in and rummaged around in the glove box. He pulled out another walkie-talkie and handed it to Nancy. "You need anything, sweetheart, you call. Okay?"

Nancy smiled at him. "Okay."

Jake grinned back at her, then leaned in and kissed her cheek. "Bye, now."

Tim looked at Emily for a long moment then took one of her hands in both of his.

"Is something wrong?" she asked worriedly.

Tim just smiled, brought her hand to his lips and kissed it tenderly. "I'll come check on you later." He touched his hat, then he and Jake got on their horses and rode off toward the fire.

Nancy sighed and turned to Emily. "I love Frank Hardy with all my heart...but that was awesome."

Emily burst into giggles. "Nancy Drew I never would have guessed you were such a sucker for romance."

"Me neither," she replied. She gestured around her. "Especially this kind. Cowboys, the wild west, horses...it's so cliché, so…so offensively macho." She shook her head. "It's got to be the adrenalin. Because this has Bess Marvin's name written all over it in capital letters, and yet, I'm the one who's all mushy inside."

Emily laughed. "I won't say a word to Frank about your mushiness."

OOOoooOOO

Joe collapsed onto a nearby hillside with a bottle of water in his hand. He opened it and gulped down half, then turned it upside down over his head and chest as Frank took a seat next to him. "Man, this is brutal," he said, taking in the controlled chaos surrounding him as men continued hosing down flames that stubbornly refused to die out.

Frank lay back on the grass, wiping his arm across his face and smearing the soot into his sweat. "I wonder if whoever is threatening Ed and Susan knew the extent of the damage they'd cause with this fire."

Joe shook his head. "I don't know. If they didn't, they're stupid. If they did, they're more dangerous than we thought." He put the water bottle up to his mouth to try and catch another drop on his tongue. "I don't know which is worse."

Frank swallowed the contents of his bottle quickly. "Not good either way, is it?" He stood up and gestured to Joe. "We'll have to analyze it later. Right now we have to stop half this county from burning to the ground.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: **Thanks for the comments, Caranath, Jackie, Leya, zenfrodo, unobtrusive, KennaC and Vinsmouse! This chapter focuses on interpersonal relationships...because Joe is mighty cranky after having been up all night fighting the fire and his temper is short. Also, because I love the relationship aspect of a story and how people learn to work and get along with each other. The "real life" part. The mystery returns front and center in the next chapter though. Thanks so much to those who are reading!

Chapter 10

Hours later, Frank, exhausted by the fire fighting effort, climbed into the back of Ed's pickup truck, where his brother was already waiting.

"Man, I am spent," Joe said, lying on his back and closing his eyes.

"Yeah, no kidding." Frank rubbed a blackened hand across his face. "I hope the girls are home in bed."

A slow smile crept over Joe's face. "That sounds so damn good right now."

Frank chuckled. "Which one? The girls? Or bed?"

"Both," Joe replied, still smiling.

"Right after a long shower," Frank added. He looked at the sun barely creeping above the horizon. "What time is it?"

"Five-thirty," Tim told him as he approached the truck. "I just checked on the girls. They're fast asleep."

Joe sat up and stared at Tim. "What are you talking about?"

Tim gestured over the hill. "They waited in the truck. I didn't have time to take them back to the cabin."

Frank turned to him. "I'm not following you."

Buck sauntered over to them. "Tim will never tell you. He's too modest." He leaned against the truck. "After my pickup caught fire, the girls rolled out the passenger side and into a fire ring. If Tim and Jake hadn't seen 'em and gotten them the heck outta there, well..."

"What did you do?" Frank demanded.

Tim grinned. "Got them the heck outta there." He picked up the hose and continued walking along.

Frank exchanged looks with his brother. He didn't like the way Tim said that one bit. Or the smirk on his face as he did. Maybe Joe was right, it was time to set some boundaries with those cowboys. Teach Brett and Bart Maverick a lesson or two. "Let's go," he said, scrambling down from the truck.

OOOoooOOO

Frank smiled as he looked through the passenger side window of the truck at Nancy, curled up on the front seat, fast asleep. He slowly opened the door and leaned inside.

Seeming to hear the door creak, Nancy struggled to a sitting position. "Frank? Is that really you?"

"It's me, baby," he whispered.

She threw her arms around his neck, pulling him off balance. "Oh, thank goodness. I was so worried."

Frank placed one hand on the back of the seat to steady himself, and hugged her close with the other one. "That makes two of us . You were on my mind the entire time I was out there." He nuzzled her neck. "I missed you."

"You, too." She brought her lips to his soot covered face for a kiss.

OOO

Joe tried to open the driver's side door quietly, but it was old, and squealed loudly on its hinges. Even though she was asleep, Emily's brow furrowed at the disturbance, and she stirred slightly. Joe slid onto the front seat and lifted her to him.

She leaned on his shoulder and sighed, sliding her hand over his chest and around his neck for a hug. She opened her eyes, tilted her head back slightly, and stared at him. Joe knew he must look like hell. He sure felt like hell.

"Oh, honey," she said softly, her eyes full of concern as she ran her hand along his cheek. "You're exhausted. I need to get you home to bed."

Joe grinned. "I would love nothing more."

"Then let's go. We can take the truck." She reached into the glove box and handed him the keys.

Joe started the engine, while Frank climbed in the cab and shut the passenger door.

"If you had these keys the whole time, why didn't you go back to the cabin?" Joe asked.

"We wanted to wait for you," Nancy said, settling into Frank's lap.

"Yeah," Emily echoed, snuggling under Joe's free arm as he drove the truck through the field. "We were scared to death having you out there."

"It was pretty brutal," Frank admitted. "And we really had no idea what we were doing half the time."

"Hey, what happened with Buck's pickup?" Joe asked, looking down at Emily. He hadn't gotten the entire story from Tim, that much he knew.

She sighed. "I don't know. I guess Buck's not as young as he used to be. Either the fire jumped, or he got too close. The next thing I knew, someone was yelling on the walkie that the truck was on fire, and Buck basically shoved us out the door."

"Yeah, then we kind of slid down that ridge and boom," Nancy continued, leaning her head against Frank's chest, "the whole world was on fire."

Emily shook her head. "That was scary. We didn't know what we were going to do."

"Why didn't you yell for me, baby?" Joe asked. "I would have gotten to you, no matter what." He definitely didn't want that jackass Tim being her knight in shining armor.

Emily hugged him around his waist. "I know you would have. And I was about to, when I heard the horses."

"Horses?" Frank looked at her.

"Yeah, out of nowhere," Nancy said, with wide eyes. "One minute we were standing, surrounded by fire, the next minute...whoosh, up in the saddle and galloping away." She grinned. "Straight out of 'Gunsmoke.'"

"And then what happened?" Joe asked, his lips pressed into a thin line. He was grateful that Tim had taken care of her, but he was also getting damn tired of that cowboy using every opportunity he could to try and make a move on Emily. In the cattle pen the first day they arrived here, at the farmhouse during dinner, while Joe had been investigating the henhouse massacre, and now even while they were fighting a damn prairie fire, Tim was always there. Always flirting, always leering, always making suggestive comments. Joe was finished with that shit.

Emily shrugged. "Nothing. I called you on the walkie, and Tim and Jake dropped us off here at the truck." She glanced at Nancy. "I guess we must have fallen asleep, because that's the last thing I remember."

Nancy nodded. "Me too."

Joe pulled the pickup onto the gravel driveway near the cabin and turned off the engine. "That's all you remember? Because according to Tim, he came back and checked on you."

Emily looked at Joe with a puzzled expression. "I'm sure he did. He said he was going to, but obviously I was asleep."

Joe opened the door to the truck and stepped down. He held out his hand to Emily and helped her out of the cab, then slammed the door hard as Frank and Nancy came around from the other side of the pickup.

Nancy put her hands on her hips. "What's your problem all of a sudden?"

Joe turned and stared at her. "My problem, 'all of a sudden', is that John Wayne apparently had time to leave the front line of a giant prairie fire on the ranch where _he's_ the foreman, to check on _my_ girlfriend several times during the night, while Frank and I were out there busting our butts without a break, worried sick about you two." He slammed his hand against the side of the truck. "That's my problem."

Nancy rolled her eyes. "Joe, get serious. Tim only wanted to make sure we were okay. I'm sure he thought he was doing you a favor."

Joe snorted. "That's priceless, Nancy. Doing me a favor? Are you kidding? Helping me in any way is the last thing on that guy's mind."

"My, aren't you the cynical one?" she retorted.

"Cynical? I'm not being cynical, I'm calling it like it is. And the only thing Tim Carlson has been after since we got here is Emily, and I am damned tired of it." Joe paced back and forth. "I've been nice and now I'm done being nice. Carlson knows Emily is mine, and he doesn't give a shit. Where I come from, that's despicable."

"What?" Nancy almost shouted. "Emily is 'yours'? What century are you living in Hardy?"

Joe rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."

"No, I don't think I do." Nancy crossed her arms in front of her. "Why don't you enlighten me."

"Joe," Emily interrupted.

"No," Joe said. "She wants to know what I think, I'll tell her. First of all, I was not implying that Emily's my property, and you know that, Nancy. She belongs to me and I belong to her. If you have a problem with that…tough. Secondly, I think…no, I know…that Carlson has done nothing but try to take her away from me since the second we came to this ranch. And it ends now."

He slammed his hand on the truck again. "I swear, if he pulls one more stunt, just one more, I'm going to kick his ass from here to Bayport and back."

"So, you're saying that rescuing us from the fire last night was a _stunt_ of Tim's?" Nancy asked, her eyebrows raised.

Joe was exasperated. "No, I'm not saying that. I'm saying that he took full advantage of the situation and exploited it for his own purposes."

"Oh for crying–"

"Nancy, let's go inside, okay?" Frank put his hands on her shoulders and started walking her down the path to the cabin.

"Frank, he's being ridiculous," Nancy countered, loud enough for Joe to hear. "If Emily wanted Tim, she could've had him at any time." She stopped, obviously determined to make her point, even if it wasn't directly to Joe. "Yes, Tim has a crush on Emily. So what? Every time Tim has opened the door, Emily's shut it in his face. He hugged her last night, more than once, and nothing happened."

Frank put up a warning hand and tried to move her along again, but she resisted.

"Frank, this nonsense has got to stop. It's interfering with the investigation." She shot a look in Joe's direction. "Your brother needs to focus on what's happening with this case, not on whether or not some cowboy keeps hitting on his girlfriend."

Joe walked swiftly over to Nancy. The last thing he was going to deal with right now was her criticism. "What are you really trying to say? That I'm not doing my job? That I'm not a good detective? That my personal life is getting in the way?"

"Joe, please." Emily reached for his arm, but he shook her off.

"Hmm, let me see," Nancy paused. "Yes. You're overreacting to a situation that doesn't exist. Please, think about that. Please." She turned and headed toward the cabin. Frank sighed deeply and went after her.

Joe turned and saw Emily staring at the ground, her arms wrapped around her mid-section, like she was trying to hold herself together. Damn it, he'd done it again.

He walked over to her and rested his hand on her back. "Oh, baby, I'm sorry. I didn't mean for that to happen. "

Emily looked up at him, the hurt she was feeling clearly evident in her eyes. "Why, Joe? Why do you act like you don't trust me?"

Joe ran a hand over his eyes as he took a deep breath. "It's not that, honey. I know you're not interested in Tim. I'm not even worried about that. I just hate how he acts like you're_ his_ girlfriend when he knows damn well you're no such thing."

Emily looked at him as though he were a petulant child. Which he guessed he was at the moment. It had to be the lack of sleep that was getting the best of him. He didn't operate well with no sleep.

"You're taking all of this too personally," she said, moving closer to him. "It's just how Tim is. Not to mention, he sees you as an outsider and he's suspicious. But get this straight, Joe…I love you, not Tim. Understand?"

Joe drew her into him as unexpected tears came to his eyes. "I don't deserve you." He laid his head on top of hers, and stood silently, thinking how right she felt in his arms. He promised himself that he was going to back off where Tim was concerned. Unless he did something Joe couldn't ignore. But he wouldn't instigate anything. Emily was right, he was an outsider here. And he couldn't blame Tim for wanting her.

He tilted Emily back slightly and kissed her forehead. "I promise I'll try to be good."

Emily hugged him tightly, then patted his back and said, "I have a proposition for you."

"Oh?"

"How about you take a nice hot shower, then I will tuck you into that wonderful soft bed, and after I get cleaned up, I will get in there with you and we can sleep for the next eight hours straight," she said, brushing a lock of hair out of his eyes. "Because you are clearly exhausted and not yourself."

"Sounds good," he replied, "except for one thing."

"What?" she asked, concerned.

"How about we get in that nice hot shower together?"

"I think maybe that could be arranged." Emily smiled, releasing her arms from around his waist, taking his hand, and leading him down the path to the cabin.

OOOoooOOO

Frank stood in the shower, his hands braced against the tile wall, letting the hot water pour over the sore muscles in his back. He could hear Nancy bustling around in the bedroom. She was still ticked off.

A smile crossed his face as he reached for the shampoo bottle and squirted some on his hair. She and Joe were so alike in so many ways, they were bound to butt heads every once in awhile.

He worked the shampoo into a lather, then rinsed his hair, watching as the soot darkened suds swirled down the drain. He chuckled to himself. So what was wrong with his personality that he always ended up with the stubborn, emotional types?

He heard the bathroom door open as Nancy stepped inside. She pulled back the shower curtain, her eyes flashing. Yep, she was definitely ticked off.

"Are you mad at me?"

Frank turned and smiled, while he soaped up his chest. "No, baby, that's Joe. Next room over."

She yanked the curtain closed, and Frank's smile broadened into a wide grin.

"I'm right, you know," she said.

He heard her grab her toothbrush and begin brushing her teeth vigorously. "Emily's not interested in Tim."

Frank rinsed more soot down the drain. "But Tim's interested in her."

"So?" she replied, her mouth full of toothpaste.

"So, it's getting on Joe's nerves."

He heard the tap water going as she rinsed her mouth. "So, if Emily isn't interested back, what does it matter?"

He stuck his head around the shower curtain. "Clearly, you're not a guy."

She grinned back at him. "Not the last time I checked."

Frank snorted from inside the shower. "Not the last time I checked either." He lathered up his face to shave. "So that means you're not going to understand."

"Oh, is it one of those guy things? Laying claim to your territory or something like that?"

He ran the razor over his jaw. "Well, not as Cro-Magnon as that, but yeah, sort of. Tim's trying to make the moves on Joe's woman." Frank stuck his head around the shower curtain again. "He's not going to put up with that."

"And this is part of the guy code?" she asked, a smile on her face.

"You got it," he said, rinsing the lather off his face.

"Even if Emily's perfectly capable of fending Tim off herself?"

"Doesn't matter." Frank turned off the water and reached for a towel. "Joe's still going to punch his lights out if he catches him trying something. Especially Joe."

He opened the shower curtain and wrapped the towel around his hips. "So see, you're fighting a losing battle against years of internal programming, baby." He kissed her cheek and moved over to the bathroom sink, reaching for his deodorant.

Nancy sighed, turned the shower back on and stripped off her clothes. "So what's going to happen next?"

Frank ran a comb through his hair. "Uh, Tim will probably hit on Em again and Joe will kick his ass."

She poked her head around the shower curtain, a huge grin on her face. "I'm so glad I'm not a man."

Frank laughed out loud. "Yeah, I am too, babe."


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: **Thanks so much for taking time to leave feedback, Caranath, zenfrodo, Jackie, unobtrusive, Vinsmouse and KennaC! I loved reading your comments! Back to the mystery in this chapter.

Chapter 11

Emily opened her eyes to the midday sunshine illuminating her bedroom. Her head was resting on Joe's bare chest, and her arm was draped casually across his stomach. He was holding her close to him with both arms as he slept. She sighed contentedly as she snuggled into him. She knew he'd acted like an idiot earlier, but she also knew he didn't mean it.

Nancy always seemed irritated by Frank and Joe's possessive nature, but it didn't bother Emily. She felt she understood it. Joe had lost his mother when he was five years old. That affected him more deeply than he'd ever let on. Obviously it was something he'd adjusted to, and he'd become a caring, successful, funny and smart individual in spite of it. Also in spite of having his Aunt Gertrude as the only female role model in his life during his childhood. Emily made a face. Gertrude was way too stern and cold for her liking. Joe's loving nature had managed to prevail over all his aunt's strict rules and disapproving looks. Thank goodness.

However, Emily had discovered something else about Joe in the year she'd been dating him. On the surface he never seemed insecure, but deep down, underneath it all, Joe was afraid. He was afraid of losing her, just as he'd lost his mother. And she felt that's where the possessiveness came in. She knew it was all subconscious, but it was there, nonetheless. And because it stemmed from that, rather than some arrogant, male chauvinistic attitude…she would put up with it and help him work through it.

She smiled as she watched him sleep, his lips slightly parted, his long lashes grazing the tops of his cheeks. _He may be an idiot sometimes, but he's my idiot_.

A knock on the front door interrupted her reverie. Emily stiffened. _Oh geez, not my Aunt Susan. _She looked at Joe. _Oh, he's so exhausted, I can't wake him. _She gently moved his arms and slipped out of his embrace.

Standing quietly, she grabbed her sundress off the nearby chair, pulled it over her head, and stepped out into the living room, just as the knock sounded again.

"I'm coming," Emily called in a hushed tone. She opened the door expecting to see her aunt. Instead, Jamie Brookings was standing on the small front porch. "Jamie. Um, hi."

"Hi, Em. Listen, can I come in for a minute?"

"Yes, of course." Emily stepped to one side. "Is everything all right? You seem worried about something."

"Well, I just came from the farmhouse, and your aunt is really upset."

"Upset? About what?" Emily gestured to the kitchen table, wondering if the prairie fire had taken its toll on Aunt Susan as well.

Jamie took a seat in one of the rustic wooden chairs. "It seems that she found a note this morning."

"A note?"

"Well, a threat, I guess." Jamie's brown eyes were wide. "I wanted to bring it to you, but Susan wouldn't let me. She said you'd been up all night on the fire line and it could wait. I'm not sure it can. It was kind of weird, so I thought I'd stop here and mention it before I went home." She glanced around. "Where are Frank and Joe?"

"Sleeping," Emily said. "They're really beat."

"But I thought Susan said they were sleeping on the couches." Jamie smiled at Emily. "She made a point of telling me that."

"Well, we thought the beds would be more comfortable after the rough night they had."

"Oh." Jamie seemed disappointed. "Um, where's Nancy?"

Emily gave her an odd look. Did she have to spell it out for her? "She's in her bedroom."

Jamie didn't say anything.

"So, what exactly did this note say and where did my aunt find it?" Emily was trying hard to stay calm, but after what had happened with the last note, she was more than a little concerned.

"She found it in the freezer."

"The freezer?"

"Yeah, in the kitchen," Jamie said. "I came over to drop off some papers for my dad, and she invited me in for some coffee. She was bustling around the kitchen as usual, and when she opened the freezer door, there it was."

"That's kind of an odd place for a threatening note," Emily commented. She couldn't imagine what that could mean. The one thing she did realize was that the person who put it there had to be someone on the ranch. And not just a random someone. It was someone she knew well. Someone who had access to her aunt and uncle's house. That thought made her stomach twist into a knot.

Before Jamie could reply, Nancy slipped into the room from her bedroom.

"I thought I heard voices out here," she said with a smile.

Emily watched Jamie's expression as Nancy approached the table. She'd tried to hide it, but Jamie was clearly not happy to see her. The green-eyed monster was alive and well on the ranch. Although that was not her primary concern at the moment. Jamie's crush on Frank would have to wait.

"Jamie was just telling me that my aunt got another note today. In her freezer." Emily tried to keep the panic out of her voice.

"Well, it had some kind of weird verse on it," Jamie continued. "Something about ice." She shrugged. "I guess that's why it was in the freezer."

Emily's eyes met Nancy's across the table.

"The Fire and Ice poem?," Nancy asked.

Jamie looked baffled.

Nancy began reciting, "'Some say the world will end in fire, some say in ice. From what I've tasted of desire, I hold with those who favor fire.' How does the rest of it go, Em?"

Emily tried to think clearly, but she was having a hard time. _Come on, you had to memorize this thing for ninth grade English. _She closed her eyes and recited, "'But if I had to perish twice, I think I know enough of hate, to say that for destruction, ice is also great, and would suffice.'"

"What on earth is that supposed to mean?" Jamie asked.

"That's what we need to find out," Nancy said.

OOOoooOOO

"So, let's recap what we know here, before we head up to the farmhouse. I want to get everything straight in my head," Joe said, as he paced back and forth in the cabin living room.

As soon as Jamie left. Emily had come into the bedroom and awakened him. He was glad she had. He needed to get to work on this case before another disaster like last night's fire happened again.

"Okay." Frank leaned back in the leather sofa. "One, the threats seem to be solely directed toward this ranch."

"More specifically, Ed and Susan," Nancy clarified from her position next to Frank.

"It seemed to start out with minor things," Joe said. "The cut fence, the vandalism, stuff like that."

"Yeah, but it's quickly moving way beyond that." Frank shook his head. "I think we're up to attempted murder with that prairie fire."

"Definitely," Nancy agreed. "But what's causing the escalation? Is it because some misunderstood demands aren't being met? Is it because we're here? Or something entirely different?"

Joe slapped his hand against the river rock fireplace. "Damn, I wish we had a motive of some kind. I feel like we're sitting ducks without one." He was beyond frustrated. This criminal was playing games with them now. And there was nothing Joe hated more than being toyed with.

"Well let's talk about motive," Frank said. "I think someone wants this ranch. They're trying to scare Ed and Susan. Ed's not going to scare easily, but Susan's already terrified."

"It might not take much more to get her to want to leave," Nancy agreed.

Joe looked at Emily who had been sitting silently in the oversized leather armchair. She was terrified and he hated it. She'd also wanted to run right up to the farmhouse after she'd told him. He'd managed to talk her out of going for the moment, but he knew she wouldn't wait much longer. "Baby? What do you think? Could all this make your aunt want to leave the ranch?"

She sighed, a troubled look on her face. "Yes. This has made her fragile, nervous and so scared." She turned to Joe and he could see the fear in her eyes. "I'm not sure how much more she can take."

Joe wasn't exactly sure how much more he could take either. Why in the hell couldn't they get a handle on this?

"Then I think that's our answer," Frank said. "Someone wants your aunt and uncle off this ranch. The question is why?"

He was interrupted by a ringing telephone. Emily hurried over to answer it. "Hello? Oh, hi, Uncle Ed. Yeah, they're awake. Sure." She held out the phone. "My uncle is out by the barn with the sheriff and he wants to talk to 'one of the boys.'"

Frank stood up and took the receiver from her.

"This is Frank." After a few moments of conversation, he hung up and turned to Joe. "Ed wants us to head back out to the western field. Sheriff Payne is there. They've found gasoline cans. The fire was deliberately set."

OOOoooOOO

Emily looked over at Nancy after Frank and Joe left the cabin. "I'm surprised you didn't protest more when Frank told you to stay here."

Nancy smiled. "That's because I have some investigating I want to do at the farmhouse, and I'm not waiting for them to get back before I do it."

Emily gave her a knowing look. Nancy had apparently taken all she was going to take from the men around here. Now she was going to do what she wanted…whether anyone liked it or not. "What kind of investigating?"

"The note your aunt found." Nancy stood up and grabbed the legal pad Frank had been writing on. "That's a valuable clue. The fire happened right after we got the first note. I want to try and figure out what this second threat is all about _before_ it actually occurs."

"Well, I'm headed up to the farmhouse to see my aunt. I know she has to be a mess right now, and I'm not leaving her alone for one more second," Emily said as she headed for the door. "Care to join me?"

Nancy stood up. "Absolutely."

OOOoooOOO

Frank got out of the pickup truck he and Joe had used earlier to return from the fire, and surveyed the charred landscape in front of them. Cowboys from other ranches had driven in and were now making sure that every hotspot had been taken care of and no smoldering piles of grass remained.

"Unbelievable," Frank muttered as his brother came up next to him. Whoever set this fire was a seriously disturbed individual, and that always made for an unpredictable case.

Joe shook his head. "It's hard to imagine the amount of damage one fire can cause until you actually see it in front of you." He made a sweeping arc with one hand. "It looks like it goes on for miles."

Frank spotted Ed waving to him from about twenty yards away. "Hey, come on," he said to Joe.

Joe walked with him to where Ed, Sheriff Payne and Tim were gathered.

"Howdy, boys," the sheriff called out. "Hear you got some fire fightin' experience under your belt last night."

"Yeah," Frank said with a snort. "And it's not something I'm anxious to repeat any time soon."

Sheriff Payne kicked at a gas can lying in the middle of the field. "Well, someone sure was anxious to get this fire started. With the dry conditions we've had around here lately, it wouldn't have taken more than a match for this whole field to go up in flames. Whoever poured the gasoline out wanted to make sure it went up and went up fast."

"Any identifying marks on the gas can?" Joe asked.

"Nope," Sheriff Payne replied. "Exactly like hundreds of others on ranches all over this county."

"Guess we know what the person who wrote the note about 'fire' meant, huh?" Ed asked.

"Yeah," Frank said slowly.

"What note?" the sheriff demanded.

Ed explained how he'd found it on his porch after dinner the previous evening. "Didn't want to bother you with it so late, Ben, and then with the fire, I didn't really have a chance."

"Susan received another note this morning," Joe spoke up.

"What?" Ed was surprised. "I've called her twice and she didn't mention anything about it."

"It wasn't that long ago," Frank said. "Jamie Brookings was with her. She came to the cabin to tell the girls."

"What did it say?" Sheriff Payne asked.

"It was the rest of the poem," Joe told him. "Something about the world ending in ice. She found it in the freezer."

"Ice?" Tim commented. "How on earth do you kill someone with ice?"

"That's what we're going to figure out," Joe told him.

"Before or after it happens?" Tim smirked.

Joe started to lunge for him, but Frank grabbed his arm. "I think we're going to head back to the farmhouse now. I want to take a look at that note." He tugged on his brother. "Come on." The last thing he needed right now was Joe taking a swing at Tim.

"You haven't seen it yet?" Sheriff Payne asked.

"No, but if I know Nancy, she's checking it out right now," Frank said with a smile.

OOOoooOOO

Nancy entered the farmhouse with Emily to find Susan staring listlessly out the parlor window. Emily rushed to the chair and knelt down in front of her. "Aunt Susan, are you all right?"

Susan turned to look at her niece. "I don't know anymore." She stifled a sob. "Someone is trying to hurt us and I don't know why."

Emily gave Nancy a concerned look as she embraced her aunt.

"Susan," Nancy said softly. "We're here to help you. We will catch this guy, I promise, but I need your help." Nancy knelt down next to Emily. "Jamie Brookings mentioned you found a note in your freezer. Do you have it?"

Susan gestured limply towards the kitchen. "It's still in there."

"I'll stay here," Emily said, while Nancy hurried into the next room.

She found the note on the counter, an ice pick lying next to it, and the freezer door ajar. Nancy looked in the compartment and then at the note. She could see that the ice pick had been pierced through the note and into a large block of ice still sitting in the freezer.

The writing was in the same style as the earlier note about fire and contained the remaining lines of Robert Frost's poem, "Fire and Ice".

Nancy frowned and put her hands on her hips. _I guess you could knock someone out with a large block of ice, but that would be unwieldy. You could certainly kill someone with an ice pick. _

She shivered at that thought as she reached into a drawer and pulled out several plastic bags. Using one as a glove, she gingerly lifted the note and placed it inside the second bag, then carefully picked up the ice pick and deposited it into the third bag. She thought the sheriff definitely needed to take a look at both of them_. _

She glanced up at the kitchen clock. _If I drive quickly, I can probably make it to the field before he leaves. _She looked up to see Emily walking into the room.

"I'm taking this evidence to Sheriff Payne," she told her. "Is there a vehicle I can use?"

Emily glanced out the window. "Yeah, my uncle's white pickup is here. Take that. The keys are in the glove box."

"Okay," she said with a smile. "If Frank and Joe get back before I do, tell them where I am."

"Don't you want to wait for them?"

"No, I want to make sure I catch the sheriff. I think he needs to see this before he goes back to town."

Emily nodded. "I'll stay here with my aunt. I don't think she should be alone."

Nancy dashed down the steps of the back porch and ran for the truck. She opened the driver's side door, tossed the plastic bags with the note and ice pick on the passenger seat, and grabbed the keys out of the glove box. She drove down the dirt road leading from the house as fast as she dared. Hopefully she could make it to the pasture before Sheriff Payne left.

After about five minutes, Nancy started feeling lightheaded. She opened and closed her eyes trying to overcome the dizziness. What was going on? After going another mile down the road, she was having difficulty catching her breath. Before she could formulate another coherent thought, everything went black.


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: **Thank you so much unobtrusive, zenfrodo, Caranath, bhar, Jackie, Leya and Vinsmouse for reviewing! It's tremendously appreciated! Short chapter today, but hopefully sweet. LOL Thanks again for reading!

Chapter 12

"What's that noise?" Frank asked Joe as they headed back to the farmhouse in the pickup. He rolled down his window and strained to listen.

"Sounds like a car horn." Joe shook his head. "A continuously blaring car horn. Some people have no patience, I guess."

"Who on earth would be laying on a horn in the middle of nowhere?" Frank pressed his foot to the gas pedal. "Something's wrong." He could feel it. The hair on the back of his neck was standing up. Something was definitely wrong.

Joe hit his arm. "Frank, right there."

He turned his head to look out Joe's window. A white pickup truck had careened off the dirt road and was tipped forward in a ditch. Frank slammed on the brakes and he and Joe jumped out of their vehicle and scrambled down the ravine.

"Oh, shit," Joe said when he reached the passenger side door. "Is that Nancy?"

Frank's face was grim, and his voice was strained. "Yes. Help me. You hold her while I open this door." He was trying to keep his breathing steady, but he felt the panic rising in his throat. She had to be all right. She had to be.

Joe yanked open the passenger door and held onto Nancy's arm, gently pulling her away from the driver's side door, where she'd been leaning. When Frank opened the other door, he looked to Joe. "Okay, let her go, I've got her."

Joe eased up on Nancy's arm, while Frank's hands encircled her waist and lifted her out of the vehicle.

"Is she breathing?" Joe asked.

Frank carried her out of the ravine and placed her gently in the grass. "Yes. Her pulse is strong, too." He took a deep breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, and tried to remain calm. She needed him.

"What made her go off the road?" Joe wondered.

Frank cradled Nancy to him. "Come on, baby," he encouraged in a gentle tone. "Wake up, sweetheart. Please." He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Nan? Wake up, honey."

She began stirring in his arms.

"That's right, baby. Come on, wake up."

Nancy's eyes fluttered. "Fr-Frank?"

"It's me, honey."

"Frank? Wh-what happened?"

Frank brushed her hair out of her face and noticed a large bruise already appearing on her forehead. She must have smacked her head against the steering wheel when the truck slid into the ditch. He leaned forward and kissed it tenderly. "Joe and I were driving back to the farmhouse and saw the pickup. Do you remember anything before the accident? Did someone run you off the road?"

"No, nothing like that," Nancy said. "I was just driving along, when all of a sudden, I felt really dizzy and I couldn't catch my breath." She looked up at him. "It was the weirdest thing."

Frank's brow was furrowed and his jaw tensed as he gently ran the back of his hand along her cheek. "Are you sick, honey?"

"No, I don't think so. I felt fine before I got in the truck and I feel fine now."

Maybe it was all the smoke from the prairie fire the night before, Frank thought as he kissed the side of her head and pulled her into him. He couldn't think of anything else that would have caused it. He knew women sometimes fainted when they were pregnant, but Nancy definitely wasn't pregnant. Or was she? No, she couldn't be. She was on the pill. He knew that wasn't always foolproof, but still...

Joe sauntered over to them. "Some say the world will end in ice."

"What?" Frank asked, startled out of his thoughts.

"Ice. The note. In this case, dry ice. I just found it under the front seat."

Frank's eyes widened. "Someone did that deliberately."

Joe nodded. "Pretty clever way to kill someone, actually. It's an odorless, painless poison, and it can't be detected during an autopsy, because the body naturally accumulates carbon dioxide within itself after death."

Nancy shook her head. "I guess I'm still foggy. I don't know what you guys are talking about."

"Nance, someone wedged a block of dry ice under the front seat of the truck," Joe explained. "Dry ice is solid carbon dioxide. It doesn't melt like regular ice. It skips the liquid stage and goes directly to a gas. You were probably driving with the windows rolled up, because I noticed you had the air conditioner on."

She nodded.

"It was set to recirculate the air in the cab, not pull in fresh air from outside," Joe continued. "So, after a few minutes, you were breathing in a whole lot of carbon dioxide. That's what made you pass out."

Nancy's eyes grew wide and she clutched at Frank. "If you guys hadn't come along, I could be dead by now." She began shaking as the tears welled up in her eyes.

Frank held her tightly. "Honey, it's okay. You're okay." He kissed her softly. "Although I do want a doctor to look at you."

"Yeah, and the sheriff needs to get a look at this truck," Joe said grimly. "It's a crime scene."

OOOoooOOO

A half hour later the town physician, Dr. Adams, was examining Nancy while she sat in the back of a van he'd converted to a small mobile clinic to meet the needs of his most rural patients. Frank was looking on anxiously, periodically pacing a bit, to relieve the tension she could tell was coursing through him.

Nancy smiled inwardly. She was really starting to like Frank's protective nature. It made her feel very loved. Of course she wasn't going to slow down or stop what she was doing because of it…but she secretly liked it all the same.

"Well, my dear, looks like you've suffered no serious harm." Dr. Adams patted her leg. He turned to Frank. "Make sure your little lady gets plenty of rest tonight, okay?"

Nancy sighed and rolled her eyes. "His 'little lady' has work to do. I'm afraid rest isn't on her schedule."

Frank turned and gave her "the look." The "don't even think about it, Nan" look. The look that said Frank Hardy meant business. This was not going to be easy.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure she rests," Frank said. The tone of his voice defied Nancy to argue with him. She crossed her arms over her chest and turned away. Okay, this part of his protectiveness was annoying.

Frank reached out and shook the doctor's hand. "Thank you so much for coming out here."

"My pleasure," Dr. Adams said with a smile. "I'm sorry something like this had to happen to guests in our town. Please don't judge all of us by it."

"Don't worry," Frank assured him. "Everyone we've met here has been terrific."

The doctor turned to Nancy. "I'd better go speak with Ed for a minute. I know he's been concerned about Susan."

"Thank you again, Doctor," Nancy said with a wave as he walked off. She could feel Frank staring at her but she refused to look his way. He was going to be difficult about her working. She could already tell.

Frank chuckled. "Nan, don't play this game with me."

"I'm not playing any game. I have things to do and I'm going to do them."

"Sheriff Payne already has the note and the ice pick, so there's no need for you to go anywhere right now." Frank reached out and lifted her down from the doctor's makeshift examining table. He didn't remove his hands from her waist. Instead he pulled her close to him and held her tightly against his chest.

"I want you to stay in the cabin today." He kissed the top of her head lightly. "We can sit and talk about the case, come up with strategies, theories, suspects, whatever. But I'm not letting you out of my sight. You scared me to death."

"I know," she whispered, "but–"

"But nothing. I love you, and I'm winning this argument. Understood?"

She smiled against his chest. "Understood." Only because he was exceptionally sexy when he acted this way, and Nancy couldn't seem to resist that. _I am in so much trouble_, she thought, as she envisioned a future where Frank got his way simply by being hot.

OOOoooOOO

Joe remained at the accident scene with Sheriff Payne, Dr. Adams and Ed after Frank had taken Nancy back to the cabin. Joe could see the anger in the sheriff's eyes as he dumped a block of dry ice onto the grass with gloved hands.

"There must be damn near twenty-five pounds of the stuff in that truck. Another block was wedged under the passenger's seat."

"This guy was serious," Joe observed. "He meant to kill Nancy."

"Nancy?" Sheriff Payne pushed his cowboy hat back on his head. "Doubt this was meant for Nancy. This is Ed's truck."

"You're right," Joe said slowly. "Nancy was just borrowing the truck to take the note from the freezer to the field to show you. Whoever did this probably didn't expect her behind the wheel." So someone wanted Ed out of the picture. Finally a angle they could really focus on. Who would want Ed gone?

The sheriff nodded. "That's my guess."

"So, where do you buy dry ice in this town?" Joe asked.

OOOoooOOO

Joe burst through the farmhouse door twenty minutes later, startling Emily who was at her aunt's desk in the sewing room, entering figures from a pile of household receipts into a ledger. He rushed over to her and pulled her into him. "Thank goodness you're all right. I was worried about you."

She pushed against his chest and looked in his eyes. "Why? What's wrong?"

He hugged her to him again, happy she was safe in his arms. "Nancy. Someone tried to kill her."

"What?" Emily shrieked. The noise brought Susan into the room.

"Is something wrong?" she asked anxiously.

Emily squeezed Joe and shook her head slightly. He understood the message.

"No," Joe said with a smile. "She's just giving me a hard time about something."

"Aunt Susan?" Emily began. "Why don't you go on upstairs and rest for awhile. I'll let you know when dinner is ready."

Susan frowned. "I hate to see you doing so much work around here, Emily. You're supposed to be on vacation."

She smiled at her aunt warmly. "You know I don't mind helping out, Aunt Susan. Especially if it involves cooking. I don't get to do enough of that at school."

Joe grinned and patted his stomach. "Yeah, and she's really good at it, too. She's going to make me fat."

Susan smiled weakly. "Well, all right, I am tired. Call me if you need anything," she said as she headed for the stairs.

"I will," Emily reassured her. When the floorboards creaked above, she turned to Joe. "I want to know what happened."


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: **Thanks for the wonderful feedback, Caranath, zenfrodo, unobtrusive, Leya, Vinsmouse, Jackie and bhar! You always put a smile on my face. A little fluff at the end of this chapter, but for the most part...detective work. Thank you to those reading!

Chapter 13

After dinner that evening, Frank sat with Joe, Ed and Tim around the table in the farmhouse kitchen. "I think it's high time we discussed everything that's been goin' on around here," Ed said. "And I don't want to do it in front of my wife. She's plenty upset the way it is."

Frank noted that Susan had fallen asleep after Emily had sent her upstairs earlier, and Ed hadn't bothered to wake her up. That was probably for the best.

"Well, clearly that dry ice wasn't meant for Nancy," Tim said.

"No, it was meant for me." Ed's voice was grim. "And I'm just sick about that sweet little thing becoming a victim in all of this."

Frank smiled, glad that Nancy was in the kitchen with Emily for the moment. He knew how his 'sweet little thing' would react to that statement. Even though Ed and Tim weren't trying to be patronizing, Nan would definitely take it that way.

"Why do you think someone wants you off your ranch…and not just off your ranch, but apparently dead, too?" Joe asked Ed.

Ed shook his head. "I don't know, but I sure wish I did."

Frank thought Ed looked a little haggard. Maybe this whole thing was starting to take its toll on him as well as Susan. And maybe that's just what the perpetrator had in mind.

"Isn't that what you're supposed to figure out?" Tim asked Joe. "You're the detective, right? Not Ed."

Joe glared at him. "Yes, and in order to do that, we need as much information as we can get."

Ed held his hand up before Tim could shoot another retort in Joe's direction. In spite of Ed being very laid back, Frank guessed he didn't want his ranch foreman pissing off the detective who was here to help them. Maybe the death threat had finally gotten Ed's attention.

"All I can say is there isn't anything happening now that hasn't happened in the past without any problems," Ed said.

Frank leaned forward. "What do you mean by that?"

He shrugged. "I mean stuff is going on, but it's the usual stuff. Annual property assessment, zoning considerations, tax proposals. It happens every year. Without incident, I might add."

But this year was looking like the exception, Frank thought. He wanted more information from Ed, but he wasn't sure he would get it by giving the rancher the third degree. That seemed to make everyone around here clam up.

Frank sat back in his chair, trying to quell his rising irritation with everyone's reticence. "Well, then the only thing we're left with at the moment is someone upset with you and Susan for bringing guests to the ranch."

"I don't know, Frank," Joe began. "That just doesn't feel right to me."

Frank nodded. It didn't feel right to him either, but he didn't want to dismiss the theory out of hand. He wished he could figure out the trick to getting these cowboys to open up a little more.

Looking up, Frank smiled as Emily and Nancy entered the room. Emily set a large chocolate sheet cake in the center of the table, and Nancy put a stack of dessert plates and a knife next to it. An idea came to him. Maybe the girls could do it. The men around here certainly weren't threatened by them. He chuckled to himself. If he could just find a way to get Nancy to tone down her interrogation technique, it might work.

"Sorry," Emily apologized, as Joe pulled her onto his lap. "I didn't mean to interrupt you."

"Cake is not an interruption, baby," Joe said, kissing her on the cheek.

"Is this your famous chocolate cake, Em?" Tim asked with a grin.

"Yes."

"The same chocolate cake you made for my birthday about four years ago?" Tim helped himself to a large slice. "The one I never got to eat?"

Emily laughed. "The pigs sure loved it, though."

Frank had noticed Joe's arm tense around Emily and his jaw tighten. _Here we go again._

He smiled as he watched Emily rub Joe's back reassuringly. She'd noticed Joe's change in demeanor, too.

"I stupidly set the cake down on a bench in the barn while Jake and I tried to find Tim," Emily explained. "Maggie, the sow, got to it pretty quickly and soon it was all over her and the piglets."

Tim grinned. "What a mess that was." He winked at Emily. "And you cried for a good half hour, you were so upset."

"I thought I'd ruined your birthday."

"Aw, darlin', you could never do that."

"Nancy, do you want a piece?" Frank interrupted. He saw how Joe's fist was clenching and unclenching, and he didn't think Emily wanted another cake ruined_. _He knew Joe was going to smash the damn thing over Tim's head if he said another word.

"Sure." Nancy held out a dessert plate to Frank.

"How are you feelin', sweetheart?" Ed asked her.

"Fine," she replied. "No worse for wear."

"I can't tell you how sorry I am about that," Ed apologized.

"It's okay," Nancy assured him. "I've had far worse happen in the line of duty."

"So, what were you saying, Joe?" Frank asked his brother. He didn't think he was up to a discussion of all the horrible situations Nancy had placed herself in during her investigations. Not after what had happened today.

Joe swallowed a large bite of the cake Emily had served him. "I was just saying that I didn't think the vandalism was about the ranch having guests. If it was, someone would have tried to destroy the cabin or start some nasty rumor about this place. What's going on now doesn't seem to fit that theory."

Frank slowly nodded. "You might be right, but I don't want to throw that idea out too quickly."

"I don't want to either," Joe replied. "I just want to expand our focus a little bit."

"I agree," Nancy chimed in. "I think we might have to start asking some more questions in town. Hard questions."

"That'll go over like a lead balloon," Tim informed her. "Folks around here don't like to do much talking. And they sure as heck don't like people prying into their business."

"Tough," Nancy said.

Tim grinned at her, then looked at Frank. "Keeps you on your toes, doesn't she?"

"You could say that," Frank put a forkful of cake in his mouth. Nancy stuck her tongue out at him then smiled sweetly. Frank rolled his eyes.

OOOoooOOO

Joe had just helped Emily clear away the dessert plates when he spotted Frank and Nancy huddled together by the pantry. He glanced backwards to see Ed and Tim in the doorway of Ed's office, talking about feed reports and cattle. He caught Emily's attention at the kitchen sink and made a subtle head gesture in Nancy and Frank's direction. She nodded and smiled at him as he walked casually toward the pantry.

"What's up?"

"Just trying to make sense of what Ed was telling us at dinner," Frank said. "I think you're right, Joe. This isn't about guests staying here. There's something else going on."

"But what?" Nancy asked. "And why won't anyone be direct with us?"

Joe could tell she was frustrated. Her eyes were flashing and she couldn't seem to stand still. "They don't trust us?" he offered.

"Then they obviously have something to hide," Nancy said. "I mean, you're Emily's boyfriend, we're her friends...they asked us here, for crying out loud."

Joe shrugged. "Well, that's not entirely true. Emily asked us here. When Susan told her about the vandalism, Em thought we could help."

"So maybe the reality is that nobody wants us poking our nose into anything going on around here," Frank said.

"I don't know about that." Joe glanced over at Ed and Tim who seemed to be having a serious discussion. "Ed seemed grateful enough to have us here tonight. I think after the fire and the dry ice, he's finally realizing he has a real problem on his hands."

"Joe, who do you trust here?" Frank asked.

Joe sighed. Not Tim. But he wasn't sure he felt that Tim was in on any vandalism. He wanted to trust Ed and Susan. They hadn't given him any reason not to. He looked at his brother. "Nobody. Yet."

Frank nodded. "Me neither. How about you, honey?"

"I'm with Joe. Nobody, yet."

"Then let's hold our cards close for now," Frank said. "Obviously whoever is behind this is serious, so we have to be careful. And let's not announce any theories for awhile either. I'm hoping that whoever is responsible for this may think they're getting away with it if we pretend we don't know anything."

Joe snorted inwardly. That was the problem. They were getting away with it, because as far as he was concerned…they didn't know anything.

OOOoooOOO

Twenty minutes later, Emily was rinsing the last of the dinner plates in the sink, when Ed entered the kitchen. "Now, you get along, sweetheart. I can finish this."

"It's almost done," she told him. "And I don't mind, really."

"No. Now you've got to listen to me. Your boyfriend's waiting in the other room to take you back to the cabin and you need to go." He smiled at her as he took a plate out of her hand. "I really appreciate everything you've been doin' around here to help your aunt, but it's been a long day. Go get your rest."

She kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you. And you're right. I'm beat."

She left the kitchen and saw Joe leaning against the arched entryway into the parlor. Tim was across the room, seated on the sofa, his feet resting on the coffee table. Emily could feel the tension in the air. Tim appeared relaxed, but his entire body posture was rigid, and Joe's jaw muscle was tight. She knew he was keeping an eye on Tim in a professional capacity, but she also knew it was definitely personal as well.

She smiled to herself and walked up to Joe, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. He responded by slipping his hands around her waist.

"Thank you for waiting for me," she murmured.

"Of course, baby. I'd never let you walk back to the cabin alone."

"I know you wouldn't." She smiled up at him. "Did you get everything worked out with Frank and Nance?"

Joe shot a glance in Tim's direction. "I'll tell you about it later."

She nodded and stifled a yawn.

"Tired?" he asked.

"Yes. I didn't realize how tired until a few minutes ago." She laid her head on Joe's shoulder and he rubbed her back.

"You want me to carry you?"

She giggled. "No, I can walk. I just want to get into bed."

"Mmm," Joe smiled against her hair. "That can be arranged."

She picked her head up and kissed him softly, feeling the strain and tension in his muscles as he held her. Poor Joe, he really was trying to overcome all his insecurities and behave for her. Emily leaned close and whispered in his ear, "You are the love of my life and don't you forget it."

Joe smiled at her. "Thanks. Are you ready?"

"Yes. Take me home, hot stuff."

Joe chuckled as they walked together through the parlor to the front door. Emily smiled down at Tim. "Goodnight. Are you staying here?"

Tim's face was solemn, but he managed a smile for her. "Yeah. I don't want anything to happen to your aunt and uncle. I thought I'd sleep in the farmhouse until we catch this creep."

Emily noticed that he carefully avoided looking at Joe. And Joe's gaze was fixed on the wall, somewhere above Tim's head. Emily closed her eyes momentarily. These two clearly hated each other and she felt like they were both barely keeping their anger contained. How on earth was she going to prevent a confrontation between them?

"Thank you for that, Tim. It means a lot to me," Emily said sincerely, patting him on the shoulder.

"You're welcome, honey."

Emily turned back to Joe and slipped her hand in his as he opened the door. She heard Tim sigh heavily as she walked out the door.

"He's pissed," Joe commented as they walked down the front porch steps.

"So are you," Emily replied.

"Yeah, because I think he's only staying at the house to get on your good side."

"I don't hate him, Joe. And I do appreciate what he's doing." Emily stopped and took a deep breath. _Joe lost his mother when he was five,_ she reminded herself. "But even if he is trying to ingratiate himself with me…nothing changes as far as you're concerned."

"I know, baby." Joe pulled her in for a hug. "I'm sorry if you thought I implied that. I only meant that Tim's an ass."

Emily laughed. "Oh, Joe, what am I going to do with you?"

He raised his eyebrows. "Well, let's get back to the cabin and I'll show you."

She squealed as he scooped her up in his arms and ran the rest of the way down the path.

OOOoooOOO

"Nan? Are you okay?" Frank called out against the closed bathroom door. He could hear the water running and knew she was getting ready for bed. He placed his hand on the doorknob and hesitated. She would think he was intruding on her privacy.

"I'm fine," she replied. "I'll be out in a second."

Frank forced himself to walk over to the bed and pull back the comforter and sheets. Was she feeling unsteady after the dry ice incident? He knew she'd been slightly woozy at dinner, even though she'd denied it. Vehemently. It didn't fool him one bit.

He glanced at the alarm clock on the bedside table. She had five more minutes and then he was going in there.

Nancy flung open the bathroom door and smiled at him. "You're a worrywart, Frank Hardy."

He looked up and took in her figure in her tight t-shirt and panties. He tried to will himself not to physically react to her, but that proved to be impossible. "River Heights Girls Camp?" He read the faded lettering across the front of the t-shirt as she approached him.

"Yep, I got it when I was thirteen. The year Dad thought summer camp would keep me out of trouble." She twined her arms around his neck.

"And did it?"

"Nope," she said with a grin. "One of the counselors was stealing from the camp and trying to frame another counselor. So..."

"You had to step in and solve the case."

She sighed. "It was inevitable and sealed my fate. Dad regrets the whole camp decision to this day. It's what turned me into a detective." She stepped back. "I kept the t-shirt as a reminder of my humble beginnings. What do you think?"

"That you've filled out nicely since you were thirteen." He grinned as he eyed the thin cotton shirt, stretched tautly over her breasts, leaving nothing to his imagination. Very nice.

Nancy pulled him into her embrace again. "As have you." She ran her hands over the rippling muscles in his chest, and Frank felt all his resolve fly out the window. "I've seen some of your old photos." She leaned in and kissed the base of his throat. Frank inhaled sharply as her warm mouth continued to move over him.

"Nan, honey, I think you should probably rest after the day you've had." His voice came out as a hoarse whisper. He could resist. He had to…she'd almost died today. That had scared him senseless. When he'd held her unconscious body and wasn't even sure if she was breathing–

"I'm fine," Nancy said, interrupting his thoughts. "Besides, I think I need to unwind a little before I fall asleep."

She slid her hands from his shoulders down the length of his arms and back again. He tensed his biceps, trying to remain stoic. Sports. He could think about sports. Who was leading the American League in baseball now, anyway?

"Mmm," Nancy murmured. "You are so strong, Frank. Do you know how much that turns me on?"

"Nan?" Frank clenched his fists at his sides, as she began kissing his chest. No, licking it. Oh, hell. "Sweetheart, the doctor said you needed to rest."

Her hands moved down his chest and onto his tight abdominal muscles. They tensed under her light touch. Damn, that felt good. He closed his eyes as she leaned into him. "Please, honey?" she whispered. "I really need you tonight."

He gazed down into her eyes and saw something he didn't often see there. Vulnerability.

Frank immediately pulled her into him. He held her tightly and kissed the top of her head. She was trembling slightly as he tilted her chin up and brought his mouth down over hers. His kisses were soft, as he tried to reassure her that she was safe, loved and protected.

As the kiss continued, Frank couldn't stop himself from becoming more demanding, more intense. It was almost unconscious. He thought about slowing down, but Nancy had melted in his arms and deepened the kiss. She seemed to need this right now, and who was he to deny her? He walked her backwards toward the bed. As he laid her down, he broke away and asked in a harsh whisper, "Are you sure, sweetheart?"

Nancy nodded and began to caress his stomach again. Frank groaned and slipped his own hands under her thin t-shirt. Her skin was so warm and soft, he knew there was no going back now. He needed her just as much as she needed him.

"I love you, Nan," he murmured.

It was his last coherent thought before Nancy's hands moved even lower and desire consumed him completely.


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: **Thanks for taking time to leave a comment, Caranath, unobtrusive, zenfrodo, Jackie, Vinsmouse, KennaC and bhar! This chapter unearths a disturbing discovery and the next chapter is...explosive. LOL Thanks to those who are continuing to read! It's much appreciated.

Chapter 14

Bright and early the next morning, Joe entered the farmhouse kitchen to find that Susan was already up and cooking breakfast . Emily hurried past him to help her aunt get the food on the table. He smiled broadly as the smell of eggs and bacon tickled his nose. Big hearty breakfasts were one of his favorite things in life, and the past few days at the ranch had been breakfast heaven for him.

"Need any help?" he offered, eyeing the plate of bacon on the counter.

"Oh, no, dear, I think we're just fine," Susan told him. "Everyone else is in the parlor, why don't you go ahead and join them?"

Joe nodded, giving the bacon a longing look as he moved through the plaster archway into the next room. He spotted Frank and Nancy seated on a large leather sofa and took the chair across from them, just as Ed came out of his office to join them.

"Mornin' everyone," Ed called out. "Sleep well?"

He seems cheerful, Joe thought. He guessed the death threat hadn't affected Ed too negatively. Or else he was putting on a good face for his wife.

"Yes, thank you," Nancy replied with a smile.

"And are you feelin' better this morning, little lady?" Ed sounded concerned. "No after effects from the dry ice?"

"None," Nancy reassured him. "You can all stop worrying. I'm ready to work."

"How 'bout you boys?" Ed asked. "You ready to do some work?"

"Sure," Joe replied. "What did you have in mind?" He thought that spending the day around Ed might give him more insight into his personality.

"Well, we're going to be doing some sorting with the Brookings. Getting ready for a cattle drive," he explained. "Thought you might be interested in talking to some of their cowboys. Maybe one of them has heard something mine haven't."

Frank nodded. "We would love a chance to talk to them."

"Great. Well, go eat yourselves a big breakfast, then come to the barn and saddle up." Ed reached for his cowboy hat and headed for the front door.

"Aren't you eating?" Joe wanted to know.

Ed grinned. "Son, I'm a rancher. I'm up before dawn. I ate hours ago."

Joe felt sheepish. "Yeah, I guess we might have slept in a little." Apparently eight o'clock wasn't exactly early in the morning for these folks.

"It's okay," Ed told them. "You all aren't my hired hands. We'll be in the east pasture. Anyone can tell you where that is." He waved and headed out the door.

Joe sniffed the air. "I'm going to get some of that bacon."

OOOoooOOO

After breakfast, Joe and Frank headed out to the barn, and Susan went to spend the day with a friend on a nearby ranch, leaving Emily and Nancy at the farmhouse.

"It'll be good for her to get away from all this," Emily said. Her concern for her aunt was growing deeper by the day. Aunt Susan tried to be cheerful at breakfast, but Emily saw how pale and jittery she'd been. She knew her aunt didn't handle stress well, and this entire situation had been very draining for her.

"Yeah, I can tell she's scared," Nancy agreed.

"So, what are your plans for the day?" Emily asked her.

"I thought I'd snoop around here, if I have your permission," Nancy said with a smile.

"You do," Emily replied fervently. "I want to find out who's behind all of this. Snoop away."

Nancy grinned. "Great. Then let's start at the top of the house and work our way to the bottom. If we don't find anything here, let's move on to the outbuildings."

"Aye, aye," Emily teased. "I'll follow you."

OOOoooOOO

"So, bro," Frank began as he placed the saddle blanket on the horse he was going to ride, "what's up? I can tell something's been bugging you."

Joe rolled his eyes as he cinched the saddle tightly on his horse. Sometimes Frank's innate inability to read his mind was annoying. Equally annoying was the fact that he knew his brother wouldn't give up until Joe told him what was bothering him. It was cute when he was ten...it wasn't anymore.

"Joe?" Frank repeated, as he arranged his horse's saddle.

He sighed. Might as well get it over with. Or Frank would never leave him alone. "I don't know. I woke up this morning thinking about the case, and..."

"And?"

"Well, I'm starting to get seriously worried that Ed or Susan could be involved." He led his horse from the stall. "Ed acts so casual about everything that I'm afraid he's trying to convince us there really isn't anything wrong here, and Susan's so worked up, she's beginning to make me think she's acting like a nervous suspect." And either scenario would be a disaster as far as he was concerned. He couldn't imagine having to give that news to Emily.

Frank remained silent, which to Joe meant that he'd been thinking exactly the same thing.

Joe was worried. In any other case, he would've nailed Ed to the wall with questions, but he was handling this differently because Ed was Emily's uncle. Unfortunately, that was making Joe even more suspicious, and he was having a hard time separating fact from assumption on this case.

Frank finished adjusting the saddle on his horse. "Well, honestly, I don't know if either one of them has been committing the crimes around here, but I do think Ed's hiding something." He began to lead the animal out of the stall. "Although I'm not sure that's exactly what's been bugging you."

Time to be completely honest. "No. It's Em. I hope she'll be okay with things if it does turn out that Ed or Susan is involved." And that she wouldn't shoot the messenger. Nobody wanted to hear bad things about their own family.

"Meaning you hope she won't blame you in some way?"

"Yeah."

"She won't Joe. She loves you. Have faith in that."

Joe nodded as they walked out into the bright morning sunshine. He knew she loved him, but he wasn't quite ready to test how much. Not in this way. He mounted his Palomino and turned to Frank. "I'm guessing that to find the east pasture we would head east?"

Frank smiled. "Unless they have a different sense of direction in Oklahoma."

"We'll soon find out," Joe said with a grin as he urged his horse forward.

OOOoooOOO

Two hours later, Emily was searching through the large root cellar that was located in the basement of the farmhouse, with Nancy by her side.

"You know, I really wish we could have gotten into your uncle's office," Nancy told her, running her hand along the top of a freestanding cupboard.

"I know." Emily brushed off her dusty hands on her jeans as she searched through shelves of home-canned fruits and vegetables that stood against the earthen walls. "I was kind of surprised it was locked." It made her slightly uneasy. Her uncle didn't typically lock his office. Usually the door was kept wide open. Was he merely worried about the possibility of vandalism…or was he hiding something?

"And I was even more surprised that I couldn't pick the lock," Nancy said with a sigh.

"Maybe you'll get another chance," Emily said. "He usually doesn't even close the door."

"I wonder why he did it today?" Nancy surveyed a door on the far wall.

"I think everything that's going on has made him jittery." At least she hoped that's what it was. Emily stepped back from the well-organized wooden shelves. "Nothing here but bottles of peaches and tomatoes."

"What's behind that door?" Nancy asked.

"Um, storage, I think." Emily walked over to it and tried the handle. It opened easily. "Did you want to look in here?"

Nancy put her hands on her hips. "What do you think?"

Emily smiled. "Let's go then," she said, leading the way into the dark room.

"There should be a light bulb hanging from the ceiling somewhere." Emily groped the air until her fingers closed around a thin chain. She gave it a tug and a light bulb sputtered on. "That's better."

Nancy surveyed the large wooden bins lining the walls. "What's in those?"

"Um, flour, sugar, stuff like that," Emily replied, as Nancy glanced around the space her aunt used as a storage room for food items she bought in bulk.

Nancy turned back toward Emily and stopped abruptly, her eyes widening.

"What?" Emily was wary.

"There's an envelope taped to the inside of the door. Right above your head." Nancy snapped on a latex glove she'd stuffed in her pocket and hurried over to door. She reached up and took the envelope down gently. "There's a note in here." She glanced up. "Let's go in the kitchen where the light is better."

They hurried upstairs and stood next to the kitchen sink where the light shining through the windows was brightest. Nancy grabbed a knife from the wooden block sitting on the counter and sliced open the envelope.

Printed in the same neat handwriting as the previous notes were the words, "Why will you say that I am mad? Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded and with what caution. I was never kinder to the old man than in the whole week before I killed him."

"What on earth does that mean?" Emily asked in a horrified tone.

Nancy looked up at her with clouded eyes. "I think it means someone's been murdered."

OOOoooOOO

Joe pulled his horse up as he reached Ed in the eastern pasture. "How's it going?" Joe asked him.

Ed nodded. "Good. Tim's been working hard. Got most of them sorted. He's a damn fine foreman." He looked at Frank as he rode up to join them. "You interested in talking to Brookings?"

"Definitely," Frank looked around. "Where is he?"

"Over yonder." Ed gave a whistle and Pete Brookings and Jamie came riding over. Jamie shot Frank a brilliant smile and he shifted uncomfortably in his saddle. Joe grinned. Time to have a little fun with his brother.

"Uh, Mr. Brookings?" Frank began. "We were wondering if there'd been anything odd happening on your ranch lately?"

"Odd?" He scratched his head. "Nothing out of the ordinary." He glanced at his daughter. "You notice anything odd around the place, Jamie?"

She shook her head, still smiling at Frank. "No, but if Frank and his brother want to come and investigate, that'd be fine with me."

"Joe." He gave Jamie a little wave. "The name's Joe." This girl was all kinds of gone over Frank. He was going to have a great time retelling this episode to Nancy and Em when he got back to the farmhouse.

Jamie ignored him, her gaze raking over Frank.

Frank shifted in his saddle again, deliberately looking away from her. "Has anything been going on lately in town or in the county that would make someone interested in this ranch land?"

Pete paused and stroked his chin. "Well now, there's always something like that going on. This here is valuable property, and we ranchers own thousands of acres of it." He turned to Ed. "There's always some greedy city guy trying to get his hands on it, ain't that right?"

Ed chuckled. "That's for damn sure."

"Has anything specific been sent to either one of you in the past few weeks?" Frank prodded.

Joe knew Frank wanted something else to focus on besides the cabins making people around here uneasy. The degree of vandalism just didn't support that theory as far as either one of them was concerned. However, "big city guys" trying to buy up local ranches would.

"Oh, I don't know," Ed sighed. "Seems like I've seen one or two proposals cross my desk over the past couple of months. Nothing ever comes of it though. This town doesn't want to become like the big city. We've gotten pretty good about chasin' folks like that away."

"Have they gotten good at trying to chase back?" Joe asked. "Because that's what this smells like to me. Intimidation. Someone wants this ranch, and they're doing their damnedest to make sure they get it."

"So, these proposals?" Frank interrupted. "Do either of you have a copy of them?"

"I usually just toss 'em as soon as I open 'em," Ed said.

Pete thought for a moment. "Maybe. Usually I throw them out without a response, too. I'll look when I get home." He glanced at his daughter again. "You recall any laying around?"

Jamie nodded. "Yeah, now that you mention it. Maybe if Frank rides back to the house with me, we can look through the office together."

Joe chuckled. This girl wasn't going to give up.

Frank smiled at her. "I'd love to do that this afternoon, if that would be okay."

"I'd love that, too," Jamie nudged her horse closer to Frank's.

"Good," Frank said. "After we've finished here, I'll head back to the farmhouse and pick up Nancy. She wouldn't want to miss this."

"Yep, I agree with Frank," Joe piped up. "Nancy definitely wouldn't want to miss this."

Jamie gave Joe a hard stare, then turned and galloped away without another word. Joe smothered a laugh.

"I apologize for my daughter's rude behavior," Pete said as he watched her ride off. "She lost her mother a few years back, and I'm afraid she's just a little too much for me to handle sometimes."

"It's all right," Frank assured him. "We understand."

"She's got a bit of a wild streak in her," Pete continued. "I just wish she'd meet a nice cowboy who could handle her. I want to leave the ranch to her someday, and I want someone strong by her side to help her manage it."

"Does she want the ranch?" Joe asked.

"Oh, yeah," Pete said with a sigh. "She loves this place. She wouldn't be happy anywhere else. She went to college a couple of years ago in New York, but she missed it here so much, she came home after only one semester . I've just got to make it so that her future is secure. Ranching is a tough business and I couldn't be happy in the next life if I knew she was struggling to keep it afloat." He turned to Ed. "Well, looks like the cattle are all sorted out. Tim's headed this way."

"Swell," Joe muttered.

OOOoooOOO

"Murdered?" Emily's eyes were wide and Nancy could see the panic in them. "Oh, Nancy, how can this be happening? I thought this was just a simple case of somebody playing a nasty prank when I suggested you all get involved."

"It'll be okay, Em," Nancy assured her. "Frank, Joe and I have dealt with people nastier than this before." Although maybe not quite this clever. She didn't want to say anything to Emily, but this criminal was playing all sorts of games with them right now. Definitely someone who had some serious mental issues.

"Yeah, but it doesn't mean I have to like it." Emily shook her head. "This is really starting to scare me."

Nancy sighed as she smoothed out the plastic bag she'd slipped the note into and read it again. "Where have I heard these lines before?" She repeated them aloud. "'Why will you say that I am mad? Madmen know nothing. But you should have seen me. You should have seen how wisely I proceeded and with what caution. I was never kinder to the old man than in the whole week before I killed him.' Do you recognize them?"

"Yes, but I can't quite place it." Emily took the note from Nancy. "It's so creepy. Do you think we're supposed to take it literally? This person is going to kill or has killed an old man?"

"I don't know," Nancy said with a sigh. She snapped her fingers. "I've got it. My American literature class. That's where I remember seeing this. It's Edgar Allen Poe."

Emily's eyes widened. "You're right. It's the 'Tell Tale Heart!'"

"That's it." Nancy made a face. "Horrific story, that was."

"Nancy?" Emily asked, a frightened look coming into her eyes. "You don't suppose the old man this line is referring to could be my uncle, do you?"

"I hope not, Em. But listen, he's safe right now. He's with Frank and Joe and he's working."

Nancy didn't want to scare her, but Emily had just voiced what she was thinking. This note had to be about Ed. Especially after the dry ice incident. Someone was trying to kill him.

"Yes, but this is threatening murder."

"Then we'll just have to make sure it doesn't happen."

A look of resolve came over Emily's face. "You're right. I'm going out to the field right now. I need to find Joe. He has to know about this."

Nancy nodded. "When you see him, would you please send Frank back? I want to talk to him, too."

"Of course." Emily put her hand on Nancy's arm. "Please don't say anything about this to my aunt if she calls. It will upset her way too much."

"Don't worry." Nancy handed the bag with the note in it to Emily. "I'll stay here and poke around some more. I want to check some of the outbuildings."

"Thanks, Nance," Emily said with a hug. "Thank you for wanting to help."

Nancy hugged her back then smiled with a glint in her eyes. "You couldn't stop me now if you tried."

OOOoooOOO

Tim rode up to the little group clustered by the fence. "All taken care of."

"You're damn good on that cutting horse, Tim," Pete said. "That would have taken any other group of cowboys twice as long."

Tim patted his horse on the neck. "He's the best." He looked over at Frank and Joe. "You wanted to talk to some of the cowboys?"

"That'd be great," Joe said. He would try to be nice for Emily's sake. Even if it killed him.

Tim gestured with his head. "I'm not sure you're going to be able to this afternoon. We've got to get everything ready for the cattle drive coming up. You're welcome to come along on that, of course. They'll be plenty of time for questions while we ride." He gave Joe a goading stare. "That is, if you think you're up to it."

"We'll be up to it," Frank said. "Thanks."

Joe shot his brother a look. He knew he was running interference for him. Joe didn't need it or want it. He would handle Tim Carlson on his own. "What are you going to be doing on this drive?" Joe asked Tim.

"Me?" Tim grinned. "I'm a busy man around here. I'll have real work to do." He slapped his horse gently and galloped off before Joe could get in another word.

Joe bit back the retort he was going to yell out after the cowboy. Now wasn't the time. But he was damn sick of this. And he was going to let Carlson have it. He was through with turning the other cheek.


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: **Thanks for taking time to leave feedback, Caranath, zenfrodo, KennaC, Jackie, Leya and Vinsmouse! As always, it's very much appreciated! Things ramp up in this chapter. Thanks again to those reading!

Chapter 15

Fifteen minutes after Emily had left Nancy, she reached the stables. She'd decided that riding out to the pasture would be quicker for her than driving. Besides, she hadn't ridden all that much since she'd arrived on the ranch, and she missed it.

Entering the barn, she slipped inside the stall of Scarlett, her favorite mare. She picked up the saddle blanket and placed it on the horse, speaking sweetly to her the entire time.

Emily was reaching for the saddle when she heard Tim laughing right outside the barn door_. _He sounded like he was talking to Jake and she hoped he'd stay there. She didn't want to get sidetracked by a conversation with him at the moment. She needed to get this note to Joe.

She adjusted the saddle on the horse, and hooked the stirrup up over the horn so she could start cinching the straps. Tim's voice was getting closer and she knew he was inside the barn. A conversation seemed inevitable now. But she was going to make it a quick one.

Unfortunately, her horse wasn't cooperating. Emily sighed deeply and once again tried to cinch the saddle around Scarlett's middle.

Tim paused as he walked by and leaned against the stall. "Problems?"

"Yes. She's being a stinker and puffing her tummy out. I can't cinch her tightly enough." Emily looked up at him. "I don't want to ride crooked."

"Or worse." Tim chuckled as he entered the stall. He patted Scarlett and talked to her for a minute, then tightened the straps properly for Emily. "There you go, darlin'. She's all ready for you."

Emily smiled. "Thanks." She went to lead Scarlett out of the stall, when Tim put his hand up.

"Uh, Em. Can I talk to you for a minute?"

She stopped in front of him. "Can it wait until later? I'm kind of in a hurry."

Tim pushed his hat back. "Well, it's pretty important."

Emily looked worried. "What?" Something had happened to Ed. She was too late. Her heart started pounding in her chest and she tightened her grip on the reins.

"No honey, nothin' bad." Tim took her arm and positioned her against the side of the stall. "It's um...it's Joe."

"Joe? What about Joe?" Her tone became urgent. _Please don't let anything be wrong with Joe._

"Are, uh, are you two serious?"

Emily paused. Was he asking about her and Joe's relationship? Now? She sighed. Time to set him straight once and for all and then get out of there. "Yes, Tim. We're very serious. We've been dating for almost a year now."

"Are you sure, sweetie?"

Emily tightened her lips into a thin line. She guessed she was going to have to be cruel…because clearly, taking a hint wasn't one of Tim's strong points. "Joe is the one for me. He's everything I could possibly want. I'm in love with him, Tim."

Tim nodded his head and looked away. "Em, honey, I've been sweet on you since the day you tumbled out of that haymow and onto the floor of this barn."

Oh, crap. This was not going to be easy. "That's really nice, and I appreciate it, but…I love Joe." She started to move out of the stall, but he blocked her way.

"Em, wait. I just need you to hear me out. Please, can't you give me that much?"

She nodded reluctantly. Maybe if he just said what he felt like he needed to say she could be done with this whole mess. Men…they could be so stubborn sometimes.

Tim smiled. "Honey, I've just been waitin' for you to grow up. And now you have...and…" He bent his head down and whispered, "Joe."

Emily pursed her lips and took a deep breath before she began. "Tim, I think you're incredibly sweet. And I have appreciated your friendship so much over the years. We've had a lot of fun together ." She paused until he was looking her in the eyes again. "I don't want to hurt you, but...Joe's the one for me."

She really hated doing this. _Like a Band-aid. Rip it off quickly, it'll hurt less._

"Why?" Tim moved closer to her. "What's so special about Joe?"

"Well, for starters, he's kind, smart, funny, he treats me like a princess, he respects me, takes care of me, loves me."

She stepped back a bit, and found the wooden railing of the stall impeding her progress. She swallowed hard. "And I love him." And how many times was she going to have to say that? Surely he would get the message now.

"Emily, I could be all of those things to you and more." Tim placed his hands on her arms.

"Joe is the only boyfriend I want."

"Darlin', I'm not askin' to be your boyfriend." Tim moved his hands to her shoulders. "I want you forever. I want to marry you."

Emily's mouth dropped open. What on earth? Was he _proposing_?

OOOoooOOO

Joe removed his cowboy hat and wiped the sweat from his brow as he approached the barn. "Hey, Jake," he nodded.

"Joe." Jake was loading bales of alfalfa onto the back of a pickup truck.

"Uh, have you seen Emily around here, by chance?"

Jake smirked a little. "Yeah, I think she went in the barn. She was going to saddle up a horse and go look for you. Something about a note she found in the house."

Joe stopped. "A note? Do you know what it was about?"

"No idea. She just came in here sayin' she needed to give you a note."

Joe went to walk forward when Jake put his hand out.

"Just so you know, Tim's in there with her."

Joe narrowed his eyes. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Jake shrugged. "Just so you know."

Joe definitely did not like the implication of what Jake was saying. He strode into the barn, but saw no one. He thought he heard murmuring coming from one of the stalls, and headed in that direction.

Joe paused as he drew near, recognizing Emily's voice. He slowly peered around the corner, and saw Tim. His back was to Joe, but he could tell the cowboy had Emily cornered in the stall, unable to get away from him.

"Tim, that's very flattering, but you can't be serious."

"Say yes, honey." Tim murmured in a low tone. "I'll make you forget all about Joe, sweetie, I promise."

Joe clenched his fists at his sides and was ready to spring forward when he heard his girlfriend's voice again.

"No. If I ever decide I want to get married, Joe would be the only man I'd even consider for a husband."

Joe crept closer to the stall so that he could see what was going on. He also wanted to hear Tim's response to what Emily said.

"I don't see a ring on your finger," Tim said.

"He hasn't asked me to marry him."

"Why not? I thought you said he loved you."

"That's something for the future," she stammered. "I-I mean, we haven't really even talked about it."

"Hmmm," Tim put his hand on the back of Emily's neck. "He says he loves you, but he doesn't want to make you his wife."

That son of a bitch, Joe thought. He'd better get his hands off her right now.

"I love you too, and I definitely want to make you my wife." Tim ran his hand along her cheek. "I want to give you my name. I want you in my house. I want you in my bed."

Emily swatted Tim's hand away. "You know what? This conversation is over. I–"

Before she could get out another word, Tim leaned in and kissed her. Joe saw red. He sprang forward, just as Emily shoved Tim away from her.

"Stop it, Tim! I told you I love Joe."

"Emily," Tim began, but that was as far as he got.

Joe reached out and grabbed Tim's arm, anger coursing through him. He spun him around, taking Tim by complete surprise, and landed a solid punch to his jaw. Tim staggered backwards and fell to the ground, stunned.

"Joe!" Emily called out. "Where did you come from?"

Joe gave his stinging hand a shake, then reached for her. "Come on baby, I've heard enough of this bullshit."

Tim jumped to his feet and charged Joe. He tackled him to the ground just outside of the stall, and punched him in the stomach.

Joe grunted and tightened his abdomen, bracing for another blow. He shoved at Tim's chest as hard as he could and knocked him off balance, forcing the cowboy to check his next punch in order to remain upright.

"Tim, stop it!" Emily cried, as she grabbed onto his right arm and tugged desperately.

"Baby, don't!" Joe called out. "You're going to get hurt."

"You son of a bitch, do you actually think I'd hurt her?" Tim's voice was furious as he reached for Joe with his other hand.

"No, Tim!" Emily's voice sounded tearful now, and she pulled relentlessly on Tim's right arm.

The cowboy turned to Emily to pry her hand off him and Joe took advantage of the moment, scrambling out from under him and quickly getting to his feet.

"Keep your hands off her!" Joe hollered as Tim stood up and lifted Emily bodily to the side.

"Why? I'm just making her a better offer, pretty boy." Tim said, blocking a punch Joe had aimed at his jaw.

Joe seethed with anger and let loose, catching the cowboy off guard with a punch that connected squarely with his nose. While Tim instinctively reached for his own face, Joe followed up his first swing with a shot to the cheekbone.

"You bastard!" Tim roared as blood gushed down his face. He charged Joe, striking him soundly on the jaw, and pushing him up against the wall of the barn.

Emily rushed forward and struggled to get between them.

"Stop it!" she cried. "Please, stop it!"

Before Joe could tell her to get out of there, she dashed toward the entrance of the barn. Tim momentarily turned his head and Joe struck back, shoving hard. Tim staggered backwards a bit and Joe leaped forward getting in his own shot to Tim's gut.

He heard Em's voice in the background again, somewhat louder than the buzzing in his ears from Tim's follow-up punch to Joe's cheek.

"Make them stop, please! They're going to kill each other!"

Out of the corner of his eye, Joe saw Frank headed toward him with a look on his face that meant business.

Before Joe could take another swing at Tim, Frank grabbed onto him from behind, pulling him away from his target. Joe strained against him. He was going to knock that bastard unconscious and his big brother was not going to jump in and stop him.

Jake hurried over, pulled Tim to his feet and shoved him against the stall.

"All right, now that's enough!" Frank shouted. "What the hell is going on here?"

Tim spat on the ground and gave Joe a hard look. "I don't know. Seems like your brother here is a little jealous about somethin'."

Joe lunged forward and Frank tightened his grip on him. "Son of a bitch, Frank, let me go! That jackass is only getting what he deserves!"

"Forget it, Joe," Frank hissed. "This fight is over."

"You stay away from Emily, you bastard! You understand?" Joe pointed his finger at Tim. He could barely contain the rage that was boiling up inside of him.

Tim chuckled as he wiped the blood from his face with the back of his hand. "I ain't promisin' you nothing."

Emily stepped up between them. "What is wrong with you two?" She looked from one to the other in disbelief. "What do you think I am? Some sort of prize you can win?" She burst into tears and ran out of the barn.

"Emily!" Joe called after her. He tried to turn his head to look at his brother. "Damn it, let me go, Frank!"

"No." Frank held him firmly. "Not until you both calm down." He stared at Joe and Tim. "Are you happy? You made her cry." He gave Joe a little shove as he released him. "Congratulations."

Jake let Tim go, and both Tim and Joe slumped to the ground, breathing heavily.

Joe watched as Frank paced back and forth. Apparently, he was just getting warmed up. The last thing he wanted to hear right now was one of Frank's lectures. He leaned his aching head against the barn wall and closed his eyes as he braced himself for what was coming.

"Now, I don't know exactly what went on here, but it better not happen again. You got it?" Frank looked from Tim to Joe. "You got it?" he repeated in a louder tone.

"As long as he keeps his hands off Emily," Joe said sullenly.

"Hey, I believe that's up to her," Tim interjected.

"And I believe she made it perfectly clear to you what, or should I say, who, she wanted!" Joe shouted. This guy was begging for it. And Joe would be sure he got it…just not when Frank was anywhere around.

"Knock it off!" Frank hollered.

He turned to his brother. "Damn it Joe, we're here on a case. Can't you at least try to be a professional?"

Joe rolled his eyes while Frank turned to Tim. "And I don't know what your story is, but I do know Emily loves my brother. So do her a favor and quit crossing lines she doesn't want crossed."

Tim kicked at the dirt.

"Now," Frank continued. "I'm going to try and find the girl you both supposedly love so much. You know, the one you just made miserable with your idiotic behavior?" He glared at them. "Do I have your word that this bullshit will stop?"

"Yes." All Joe wanted to do at the moment was talk to Emily. He was done wasting time with this scumbag cowboy.

Tim nodded.

Frank looked at Jake. "Keep them apart." He walked to the door of the barn. "Anybody have any idea where she might have gone?"

Tim spoke up. "Down by the creek. She loves it there. Follow the path to your left, you'll find it."

Joe glared at Tim. It pissed him off that he knew things like that about Emily. Obviously Frank knew it did, too, since the look he gave him as he walked to the barn door was clearly a warning. Joe shook his head, then stopped as pain shot through his jaw. This was turning out to be another red letter day on the ranch.

OOOoooOOO

Frank paused as he came to the end of the footpath and saw Emily sitting on a large smooth rock, tossing pebbles into the creek as it bubbled past her.

He smiled as he strolled over to her. "Hey."

"Hey," Emily replied. She dusted off her hands and patted the rock next to her. Frank sat down and rubbed her back. "You okay?"

Emily shrugged. "Not really."

Frank slipped his arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry."

"Frank, I don't know what to do." Emily sniffled. "I tried to be nice to Tim, but obviously that didn't work. Now he and Joe are both furious." She looked at him. "Why is everything so messed up? I only want to help my aunt and uncle, and I've done nothing but create more problems."

"Not true," he assured her. "Yes, my brother and Tim are being idiots at the moment, but they'll calm down."

She sighed, then reached into the pocket of her shorts. "Nancy and I found this note when we were searching the pantry." She handed him a plastic bag. "Don't worry, I didn't get any fingerprints on it."

He smiled down at her. "You're learning."

Emily gave him a half smile back. "You might make a detective out of me yet."

"Don't ever let Joe hear you say that."

"Yeah," she said with a watery giggle.

"So, what does it say?" Frank peered through the plastic bag.

Emily's face clouded. "It's a quote from an Edgar Allen Poe story. It seems to imply that someone is going to be murdered."

"What?" Frank held it up and read it.

"I'm worried it's talking about my uncle." Emily sighed deeply. "I wish I understood this. Why does someone want to hurt him?"

Frank shook his head. "I think that's the mystery right there. Once we figure it out, hopefully it will lead us right to the culprit."

"I hope so. I don't think Aunt Susan can take much more of this. She's a nervous wreck."

He held his hand up. "Sshhh, hang on a minute." He looked past her. "What's all that rustling in those bushes over there?"

"I don't know. A raccoon, maybe?"

He stood. "I don't think so. You wait here." He walked over to a clump of bramble bushes, and a dog ran past him. Frank paused for a moment, startled. He began to walk forward again, then quickly covered his nose with his hand. What on earth was that smell? He wondered if the dog had found a dead animal of some kind. He cautiously moved closer and bent down to peer under the shrubs.

"Oh, shit!"

He backed away, feeling nauseous. He held out his arms to stop Emily, who was headed toward him.

"No."

"Frank, what is it?" She tried to move past him.

"No, Em." He held her arms tightly. "It's a body."


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: **Thanks so much for the reviews, Caranath, zenfrodo, KennaC, Vinsmouse, Jackie and bhar. Much appreciated. Also, a big shout out to Kenna for her advice and suggestions while I wrote the previous chapter! It was invaluable! This chapter is all mystery. Oh, and I won't be able to post the next installment of this story until Monday or Tuesday. My husband has surprised me with a weekend away for our anniversary to "somewhere warm". That's all I know...but I can't wait. It snowed here last night, and somewhere warm sounds really good. Have a wonderful weekend and thanks to everyone reading!

Chapter 16

An hour later, Frank stood watching with Joe as an ambulance driver loaded the body onto a stretcher. He turned to Emily's uncle and Sheriff Payne. "Any idea who it is?"

"Jim Randolph," Sheriff Payne replied, flipping open the man's wallet so Frank could see his driver's license.

"Jim Randolph?" Frank hadn't heard that name before. He definitely wasn't someone who worked on the ranch.

"Yep, he's a single guy, about my age, sixtyish, works for the county."

"So, what was he doing here?" Joe asked.

"Well, from the looks of things, he was fishing," the sheriff replied, gesturing to the rod and reel he'd found nearby.

"Fishing?" Frank looked around. "Here in the creek?"

"Yep," Ed replied. "Lots of folks come here to do that. Don't bother me none. Got plenty of fish here, that's for sure."

"If he was fishing in the creek, then how did he end up over there in the bushes?" Joe asked.

"Coyotes, son," Sheriff Payne replied as he walked over to the ambulance driver.

Frank cleared his throat. "So then, do we know how he died?" Because even with the little he knew about coyotes, he knew they didn't generally attack humans. They would, however, take advantage of an already dead body.

Uncle Ed shook his head. "Said they couldn't be sure yet. Too much damage to the body. And I don't like to speculate until I have all the facts. I'm not a coroner, son."

And that confirmed what Frank already knew. Jim Randolph had been dead for awhile before he'd discovered him.

Joe made a face. "Do they suspect foul play?"

Ed snorted. "Why on earth would it be something like that? Naw, Jim led a pretty hard life. Drank, smoked and everything else in between. More than likely, somethin' just gave out on him." He gestured with his head. "I've got to get back to the cattle."

"Okay," Frank replied. "We're going to investigate a little bit more." He didn't like this. Ed seemed kind of casual about the whole thing. Was finding a dead body on your property a common thing around here? Somehow he doubted it.

"Suit yourself," Ed said, as he headed back toward his horse.

"Are you willing to accept that this guy keeled over fishing?" Frank asked Joe.

"No." Joe looked around. "I want to check into it some more."

"Me, too. Especially after that note Nancy and Em found." Frank swatted Joe's arm with the back of his hand. "Come on."

They strolled over to the ambulance crew and Sheriff Payne. Frank cleared his throat. "Uh, you mentioned that Randolph worked for the county."

"That's right," the sheriff replied.

"In what capacity?"

"Land assessor."

"So, he determined the value of the properties around here, then?" Frank thought that fit in nicely with their current theory. Whoever was behind the vandalism wanted this land.

"Among other things," the sheriff replied.

Frank nodded. "Did he have an office in town?"

The sheriff snorted. "Where do you think you are, son? His 'office', if you want to call it that, was the passenger seat of his pickup and his kitchen table."

"Where is his truck, anyway?" Joe asked.

"What?" The sheriff was scribbling on a notepad, clearly only half paying attention to what Frank and Joe were saying.

"Well, wouldn't he have driven his pickup out here?" Joe gestured around. "Where is it?"

The sheriff shrugged. "Who's to say where he parked it? You can't really drive all the way down here to the creek, son, the trees are too dense. I'm sure it'll turn up."

Frank exchanged a glance with Joe. These guys let a lot of things slide by that he would have been all over. Not having the vehicle that brought the victim to the scene of his death was a huge one in Frank's book.

"Sheriff, would you mind if we caught a ride into town with you? We'd like to check out Randolph's place, if that's okay."

Sheriff Payne gave them a long stare as he slid the small notebook into his shirt pocket. "Yeah, that'd be fine. The man had no kin, so it's up to me to sort through his stuff anyhow." He gestured them to move forward. "I've done some checking up on you two. You got yourselves quite a nice reputation for your work."

"Well, we try," Joe said with a grin, as he fell into step with the sheriff.

"Saw you even saved Emily from some trouble awhile back."

Frank put his hand on his brother's back. "That was all Joe's doing."

The sheriff nodded. "It got you the girl." He laughed. "That's gotta be pissin' Tim Carlson off somethin' fierce." He spat in the dirt. "He's sweet on her, you know."

"Yeah, I noticed," Joe said dryly, rubbing his jaw as they reached the sheriff's truck.

"Well, get in. I'll drop you off at Jim's place."

The sheriff started the engine. "One rule. You find anything funny or suspicious, it belongs to me. Got it?"

Frank nodded as the sheriff pulled onto the dirt road. He wasn't sure what they would find, but he was sure that he was going to do his own thorough investigating of anything "suspicious" before he turned it over to Sheriff Payne.

OOOoooOOO

"What?" Nancy exclaimed. "They went where? To do what?"

Ed chuckled at her as he headed for his office in the farmhouse. "Frank and Joe went into town to do some investigating. At least that's what they told me."

Nancy fumed. Without her. Frank went into town to investigate without her. Apparently the macho attitude that was so thick in the air around here was rubbing off on him. "I can't believe it." She looked at Emily who was rolling out a pie crust. "Can you believe it?"

Emily smiled, as she brushed some flour onto her rolling pin. "Actually, yes." She touched it to the top of her dough and moved the rolling pin across it. "They got caught up in whatever was happening, and just forgot, Nance."

Nancy crossed her arms. "Frank is going to hear about this when he gets back."

"Honey, I don't know why you'd want to go with them," Susan spoke up from the sink, where she was peeling apples. "Isn't it a little...unsavory...for a young lady to be doing detective work?"

"It's my job," Nancy said. "It's who I am. And I've found that women can actually be better at detective work than a lot of men. We pay attention to detail more." She reached for a slice of apple. "Not to mention, nobody suspects us or even takes us seriously most of the time, so we're not threatening. I can get away with a lot more than Frank or Joe can on most investigations because of that."

"And she's a really good detective, Aunt Susan," Emily said with a smile. "She's put a lot of criminals behind bars."

Susan sighed. "I don't know why you'd be interested in that sort of thing. It seems like it wouldn't be the kind of job that would make you attractive to a man." She paused, her knife in hand, "Don't you worry about that?"

Emily spoke up with a sly smile. "It hasn't bothered Frank at all."

Nancy caught Emily's eye and grinned. That was true. In spite of Frank's worrying and overprotective nature, she knew he really admired her for her work. In fact, if she hadn't been a detective, she never would have met Frank at all.

Susan nodded. "I guess. I just wonder if you'll be able to hold onto him if you're competing with him at his job."

Nancy watched as Emily dropped her head down and laughed silently.

Nancy chuckled. "Oh, don't worry. I have a few tricks up my sleeve to keep Frank interested." She'd tell her what they were, but she felt Aunt Susan had been traumatized enough over the past few days.

Apparently, Emily couldn't resist laughing then. Susan looked over at her. "What's so funny?"

"Oh, nothing, Aunt Susan." Emily lifted her pie crust and slid it into the green Jadite pie pan. "Don't worry about Frank and Nancy. He loves her very much, and her being a detective is part of that. They're a real team."

"Hmmph." Susan turned back to the sink. "If they're such a team, then why is he out with Joe and she's here at the farmhouse?"

"She's got a point," Nancy admitted, reaching for another slice of apple. "I might need to have a little talk with him when he gets back." Or a fight. She hadn't decided yet.

OOOoooOOO

Frank and Joe got out of Sheriff Payne's pickup truck and headed toward the small, wood frame house, two blocks north of Main Street in town.

"This place sure does look like the town time forgot, doesn't it?" Frank commented as he glanced around at the old-fashioned buildings. He felt he could have easily just stepped out of a time machine into the nineteen-thirties.

"Yeah," Joe said. "I feel like I'm in a Norman Rockwell painting."

Frank chuckled as he opened the gate of the low picket fence surrounding Randolph's property, and begin walking up the sidewalk to the front door. His eyes paused on the driveway. "No vehicle. And there's no garage on the property."

"I noticed."

A few of the nearby neighbors had wandered into their yards. They looked busy, sweeping the porch or hanging laundry on the clothesline, but Frank knew they were really watching him and Joe. Small town living. He climbed the steps to the porch and tried the doorknob. "Unlocked. Think that's intentional?"

Joe shook his head. "Hard to say. Maybe people don't lock their doors around here."

As Frank's eyes adjusted to the dim light, he noticed the simple, but sturdy furnishings in the front room. He walked straight through to the kitchen, with Joe right behind him.

Frank surveyed the dishes in the dish rack and the general lack of clutter. "Apparently he kept things clean."

"Yeah, it doesn't look like much has been disturbed recently."

"Well, why don't you take this room. I'll check the living room, and then we'll go see what's in the back of the house."

Joe nodded and began rummaging through a stack of papers next to the telephone, while Frank wandered into the main room. He examined a stack of magazines and other inconsequential papers he found piled on an end table, and searched under and around the furniture. Finding nothing, he returned to the kitchen to see Joe scribbling down some information on a piece of paper ripped from a legal pad.

"Find something?"

"I'm not sure." Joe looked up. "It appears to be land values for some of the properties around here. Tax information, stuff like that. I'm copying it down, just in case."

Frank nodded. "I'll head to the back of the house."

He wandered through the rest of the small structure, pausing to glance in the bathroom, before entering the lone bedroom, in the rear of the house. It was tidy and well kept, although fairly Spartan in its furnishings.

Frank began his search looking through a chest of drawers. Finding nothing out of the ordinary, he proceeded to check in the closet, and finally, under the bed. He paused, as his hand grabbed onto what felt like a poster tube. He pulled out the cardboard cylinder, opened it, and spread out the contents on the bed.

"Blueprints," Frank whispered. As he scanned them, he realized what he was holding. "Joe, get in here!"


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: **Thank you for the reviews, Caranath, Jackie, zenfrodo, Leya, KennaC, Vinsmouse, bhar and unobtrusive! They were great to come home to! Now back to the mystery...

Chapter 17

"Hi there, Tim," Susan called out with a smile as the ranch foreman entered the farmhouse kitchen.

"Ma'am." Tim lifted his cowboy hat.

Emily stiffened slightly at the sound of his voice. Not the person she wanted to see at the moment.

Susan gasped. "Tim, your face! What in the world happened to you?"

Great. Emily had really hoped she could avoid explaining the fight to her aunt. She slid her apple pies in the oven and braced for the worst.

Tim rubbed his hand lightly over the bruise that covered his jaw. "It was nothin'. Just a little accident down at the barn. I wasn't payin' attention to what I was doing."

"That doesn't look like a little accident." Susan crossed the room to inspect his injuries. "You're going to have a black eye tomorrow, too, by the looks of this."

Um, actually, I just came to deliver some news to Ed." Tim sidestepped Susan and moved into the middle of the room. "Is he here?"

Emily turned as she shut the oven door, thinking he sounded upset. Had something else gone wrong today?

"What's up?" Ed asked, entering the kitchen from his office.

"Well, um, it seems that Jake, uh, took a call from the sheriff a few minutes ago. He's back in town and I guess he was with the coroner when they looked at Randolph's body."

Emily watched as Tim cast his eyes nervously in Susan's direction.

"And?" Ed prompted.

"And, uh, it looks as though Jim Randolph was shot."

Oh, no, Emily thought, and turned to her Aunt Susan.

"Shot?" Susan sprang to her feet. "You mean he was murdered? Right here on our property?"

Emily caught Nancy's eye. _The note_, Emily mouthed. Nancy nodded.

"It would appear that way," Tim said with a sigh.

"Why would anyone want to murder Jim?" Susan reached behind her for a chair. She sat down, pale and visibly trembling. Emily hurried to the sink to get her a glass of water.

Tim shook his head. "I wouldn't have figured he had an enemy in the world."

"Are they sure he was murdered?" Susan looked to Ed as Emily handed her the drink. "I thought you said Sheriff Payne told you he had a heart attack."

"Well, that was before anyone really examined the body," Ed said. "Sheriff Payne was only guessing about what happened to him. I didn't have time to wait for the coroner to check him out.."

"It's a little hard to miss a gunshot wound, ma'am," Tim said to Susan. "I'm sure they're not mistaken about how he died."

"Where was he hit?" Nancy demanded.

Emily cringed. She didn't really want her aunt to hear all the grisly details, but she knew there was no stopping Nancy when she was in her 'detective mode.'

Tim glanced nervously at Susan. "In the back of the head."

Nancy sighed. "Probably intentional, then."

Susan's lower lip began trembling and her voice was shaky. "I can't believe it. Someone murdered? On our property?"

Ed walked over and hugged his wife. "Now, don't you be frettin' none about this. Sheriff Payne will take care of it. It ain't nothin' for you to worry about."

"How can you say that?" Susan shrieked. "Ed, did you even hear Tim? Jim Randolph was murdered right here on our ranch!"

"Hang on," Nancy interrupted. "He may have been murdered, but that doesn't mean it happened here."

"What do you mean?" Susan wailed. "They found his body here."

"Yes, but bodies are moved all the time," Nancy countered. "To throw off suspicion from what really happened." She turned to Tim. "Can you take me to where they found him?"

"I reckon." Tim scratched his head. "Don't know why on earth you'd want to go there, but I can take you."

"Now hang on a minute," Ed interrupted. "I'm not so sure that's a good idea."

Nancy's smile seemed strained. "Don't worry, I've investigated hundreds of crime scenes before. It's part of my job."

Ed looked doubtful.

"Cross my heart." Nancy made an 'X' over her chest. "I know what I'm doing…no matter how much you all think I don't."

"Well," Ed said slowly, "I'm not sure you should be doin' any investigating without your boyfriend along."

Emily swore she saw steam come out of Nancy's ears.

Nancy's voice was very measured when she said, "My boyfriend doesn't accompany me on ninety percent of my cases. And I promise you, I manage to solve them just fine without him."

Tim cleared his throat. "Uh, Ed? I'll watch out for her."

Ed nodded reluctantly and helped his wife up from her chair. "Let's go sit in the other room, sweetheart. You'll be more comfortable there."

As soon as Ed walked into the parlour, Nancy spun on her heels and faced Emily. "I swear, if he had said just one more thing…"

Emily smiled. "You did a remarkable job staying in control, Nance. I'm not sure I could have."

Nancy turned to Tim. "You can take me out there, but you do not need to 'protect' me from anything. Got it?"

Tim looked amused. "Got it. I'm only the chauffeur." He turned to Emily. "You comin'?"

Emily stared at him. "I don't think that's such a fabulous idea at the moment, Tim." He couldn't be serious.

Tim stepped closer to her. "Fine. But I want to talk to you when I get back."

Emily sighed as he walked out of the room with Nancy. Nope, that wasn't going to be happening.

OOOoooOOO

"What is it?" Joe asked, as he entered the bedroom in Jim Randolph's house.

"Take a look at this." Frank gestured to the blueprints he'd found under the bed.

Joe glanced down at the papers, but nothing jumped out at him. "Okay, what is it?"

"Joe, they're plans for a development project."

"So? This guy was the county land assessor, right?" Joe shrugged. "Doesn't seem too unusual."

"The plans are for a project on Emily's uncle's ranch and the neighboring one."

"What? Ed never mentioned anything like that, did he?" A development project on Ed's ranch? That would put a different spin on this case entirely.

"Not that I recall." Frank was thoughtful. "Which means he either doesn't know about these plans, or he's keeping them a secret."

"Wow." Joe paced back and forth. "So, maybe someone could be harassing Ed to try to get him to sell the ranch."

"Or maybe Ed could be staging all of this himself."

"Why?"

Frank shrugged. "To throw off suspicion, make Susan want to leave, make it look like he didn't have a choice in giving in to the development." He looked at Joe. "I don't know, really. Just tossing out some theories."

"Yeah." Joe put his hands on his hips. "I'd just hate for Ed to be involved. It would devastate Em." And it wasn't something Joe wanted any part of. This case was going to be hard enough already when he thought the perpetrator might just be someone who worked on the ranch. To have her uncle be behind it…Joe didn't want to think about the repercussions from that.

Frank rolled up the blueprints. "Well, I say we keep it under wraps for now. We have no proof of anything." He put the prints in the cylinder.

"What should we do with them?"

"I want to keep them, but I'm not sure how we can get them back to the ranch." He turned to his brother. "Let's call the farmhouse. Maybe someone can pick us up, and we can sneak them into the truck."

Joe nodded. "We won't get them past the sheriff, that's for sure." Sheriff Payne played it cool, but Joe knew that he was one smart cookie. The whole 'I'm just Mr. Laid Back and Casual, none of this bothers me,' thing was all an act. Joe was sure of it. Nothing would escape Sheriff Payne's notice. Especially not a cylinder full of blueprints.

"No kidding," Frank said with a grin, as he walked out of the bedroom.

OOOoooOOO

Nancy grabbed a large stick from the ground and poked around the bushes where Randolph's body had been found, while Tim stood nearby, his arms crossed in front of him.

She reached down with a gloved hand and grabbed a leaf off the dirt, depositing it in a paper lunch sack. It didn't resemble any of the foliage growing in the area, and that made her suspicious.

She stood and walked several paces to the brambly area, carefully looking at the grass and stopping occasionally to bend down and inspect something that caught her interest.

"Can I ask what in the world you're doing?" Tim finally called out.

"I'm looking for blood, crushed grass, anything that would indicate that a body might have been dragged along here."

"This is crazy, you know that?" Tim shook his head.

"Well, murder generally does involve some degree of insanity," Nancy said. She knew Tim thought she was the one who was nuts, but she wanted him to see her work. He needed to know she wasn't just playing around. She paused and looked at the creek. "Where does this go?"

Tim sighed. "Well, if you follow it north, it goes to the Brookings' ranch… south, it ends up in town."

Nancy nodded, then peeled off her boots and socks and waded into the water. The creek was only about ten feet across at its widest point, and fairly rocky. She stopped to look around. With these dry conditions, the water level was quite low in spots. Still, if anyone had brought a body here, dragging it through the water would be the safest way not to leave a trail.

"What on earth are you doing?"

Nancy sighed. "Investigating. It's what I do. Whether you like it or not." She walked northward, examining the rocks and dirt along the banks. Tim followed her on the dry ground above.

"Be careful."

Nancy gave him a look. Could he be more patronizing?

"Hey, you're a girl, and it's my job to look out for you."

"Says who?"

"Says my daddy, my grandpa, and every other man around these parts." Tim grinned at her. "It's what we do, honey. Whether you like it or not."

Nancy couldn't help the smile that tugged up the corners of her mouth. Patronizing, but cute. "Yes, you all are making that crystal clear to me." Suddenly she stopped. "I knew it!"

"What?" Tim stooped down near the water's edge.

"Look." Nancy pointed to some rocks by the shore. "What is that?"

Tim pushed his hat back, then stepped over some boulders carefully to get closer. "It looks like blood."

"Exactly!" Nancy was triumphant. "Somebody brought Randolph's body down here. Dragged him through the water so it couldn't be traced." She glanced around. "The problem is, the water was just a little too shallow right here, and the blood wasn't washed away."

She reached into her pocket, pulling out her Instamatic camera. Quickly attaching the disposable flash, she leaned down and snapped a few pictures of the stained rocks.

"Well, I've got to hand it to you," he said. "You could be right."

"I know I'm right." She waded over to the shoreline, and Tim helped her out of the creek. "I need to get back to the ranch. And I need to see Frank."


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: **Thank you Caranath, Jackie, unobtrusive, Leya, KennaC, Vinsmouse, bhar and zenfrodo for taking time to leave a review! :-) And thanks to those taking time to read! A bit of a transitional chapter today...

Chapter 18

"Aunt Susan, are you sure you want to do this?" Emily stood in a farmhouse bedroom, holding the clothes her aunt had asked her to place in a suitcase.

"Of course I'm sure." Susan slammed her dresser drawer shut. "I am not staying in this house tonight. Not when there's been a murder committed on my own property and Ed is going off to some cattlemen's meeting in the city."

"Well, why don't you come and stay with me in the cabin?" Emily knew Joe would hate that, but he'd just have to deal with it for tonight.

"No. I wouldn't be able to sleep a wink." She paused and touched her niece on the arm. "I know you think I'm being ridiculous, but I can't help it. All of this just terrifies me."

Emily set the clothes down in the suitcase and put her arm around her aunt. "Don't worry, it's okay."

"I really would appreciate it if you'd come." She gave her a pleading look. "You're such a comfort to me."

Emily smiled. She was torn. The last thing she wanted to do was leave the ranch. But her aunt looked so desperate. And she'd always been so good to Emily and her sisters, she felt she couldn't let her down. "Of course I'll go with you to your friend's house. I'd just really hoped to be able to talk with Joe first."

"He'll understand." Susan patted her hand as she glanced out the window. "Tim and Nancy just pulled up. Maybe he can take us, since Ed had to head into town to get Frank and Joe."

Emily sighed. She didn't think Joe was going to be very understanding at all. Not after that fight in the barn earlier. But there was no way she was going to mention that to her aunt . No sense making an already bad situation even worse. "All right. I'll go get my things."

OOOoooOOO

Joe waited while Ed parked the pickup truck outside of Randolph's place, then he slipped the poster tube with the blueprints into the truck bed before sliding in the cab next to Frank.

"Did you find anything?" Ed asked them.

"Not really," Frank said.

_Way to be evasive, bro_, Joe thought with a grin as he looked out the passenger side window

"Didn't think so." Ed pulled out onto the road.

"Except his door was unlocked when we got there," Joe said.

"Don't mean nothin'." Ed drove slowly along the dirt road. "Folks around here don't usually lock their doors." He turned to Frank and Joe. "Well, I hope you two are going to be ready for tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Joe asked. He must have missed something. What in the heck was happening tomorrow?

"Yep, we gotta round up some cattle and bring 'em back to the ranch." Ed came to the stop sign at the town crossroads then turned north toward home. "Going with some of the men from the Brookings' ranch."

"Oh?" Frank prodded.

"Yeah, we let some of our cattle graze together, then separate them when it's time to round 'em up." Ed looked over and grinned at them. "You boys ready for your first cattle drive?"

"As ready as we'll ever be, I guess," Joe replied. Which meant "no". He was definitely not ready for a cattle drive. He shifted in his seat just imagining how saddle sore he was going to be after riding for hours on end.

"Yeah, well, Tim's in charge the first day," Ed continued. "I've got a Cattlemen's Association meeting to attend in the city. I'll try and make it, but if I can't, he's more than capable."

"The_ first_ day?" Frank repeated.

Oh, shit, this was going to last for more than one day? Joe really didn't want to be away from Emily that long. Not after that fight with Tim. He still wasn't sure how she was going to react when she saw him again.

"Yeah, it usually takes a couple of days to get them rounded up and back to the ranch." Ed explained. "This'll really give you a feelin' for what we cowboys do."

"So, we'll be doing this with your cowboys and the cowboys from the Brookings' ranch?" Frank glanced at Joe.

"Yep, they're all good guys. You'll like 'em." Ed turned off the main road onto an unpaved one. "You already met Pete Brookings."

"Yeah, he seemed okay," Frank commented. "How long has he had that ranch?"

"His whole life," Ed said. "It belonged to his daddy, and then his daddy before him."

Joe nodded. "So, it's something he's not interested in changing, then?" Or in other words, he wouldn't want to sell out to a development company, would he?

Ed snorted. "Changing? What on earth would he change to? He's a rancher. It's in his blood."

OOOoooOOO

Emily heard the front door to the cabin open while she was hastily throwing clothes into an overnight bag. "Joe?" She grabbed her suitcase and zipped it closed as she hurried into the living room.

"No, sorry, it's just me," Nancy said as she entered the room. "Is Frank here?"

Emily was disappointed. "No, he must still be in town. I think my Uncle Ed went to get him and Joe a few minutes ago. Unfortunately, it's a thirty minute drive each way."

Nancy nodded. "Well, that's okay. I'll just wait here then." She gestured to Emily's suitcase. "Going somewhere?"

"Yes. My aunt has been completely freaked out since she heard about Jim Randolph being murdered here. She wants to spend the night at her friend's house and she wants me to go, too. Ordinarily I wouldn't, but I'm really scared for her right now. She's always been anxious, but this…" Emily shook her head.

"Well, you can reassure her that Randolph wasn't actually murdered here."

"What? How do you know that?"

Nancy explained what she'd found at the creek which told her Randolph had been murdered at another location and dragged to the ranch.

"I don't think that would reassure her," Emily said. "Now it looks like someone is trying to frame her or Ed for murder."

"If not your aunt or uncle, definitely someone on the ranch."

"Either way, it's not good." Emily shifted her suitcase to her other hand. "Listen, I'd better get going. I should be back in the morning sometime. Tell Joe I'm sorry I missed him. I really wanted to talk to him before I left."

"I will." Nancy gave her a quick hug. "I promise, Em…we'll find out who's doing all this and it will stop."

Emily nodded. She sure hoped so. She knew Aunt Susan couldn't take much more. And she wasn't sure she could either.

OOOoooOOO

Emily reached the farmhouse and saw Tim standing next to his pickup waiting for her. Apparently this confrontation was going to be inevitable.

"Where's my aunt?" she asked as he took the bag from her and put it in the back.

"She'll be along in a minute," Tim said with a smile. "I'm glad though, it gives us time to talk."

She stood silently.

Tim cleared his throat. "I need to apologize for what I did."

"What would that be, Tim? Kissing me? Fighting with Joe?" Emily glared at him.

He grinned. "Nope, I ain't sorry that I kissed you." He moved closer to her. "I'm also not sorry that I hit Joe. He started it."

"So, what you're saying is, you're actually not sorry for anything."

"I'm sorry I hurt you. I never wanted to do that."

She crossed her arms in front of her. Was he kidding? Because he was acting all kinds of stupid, and she'd had enough. "But don't you see? You _are_ hurting me. I've told you how much I love Joe, and you're still pushing."

"Because I don't think he's right for you," Tim began.

"There you are," Susan interrupted as she stepped out onto her front porch, and walked down the steps toward the truck. "Let's go. I don't want to be around here for one more minute."

"I love you, Emily," Tim said in a low voice.

"Why are you doing this to me?" she hissed as Susan came up to them. "Don't you know the meaning of the word 'no?'"

Tim opened the passenger side door and Susan looked at Emily. "Well go on, honey. I can't sit in the middle. It makes me car sick."

Emily climbed into the small cab of the pickup and reluctantly slid along the bench seat. Tim came around and got in on the driver's side. "This is going to be cozy, isn't it?" he said with a grin.

He rested his forearm on Emily's thigh as he moved the stick shift into reverse, and kept it there. She sighed as she pushed it away forcefully and stared straight ahead through the windshield.

OOOoooOOO

"I really need to talk to Em before dinner," Joe said to Frank as they walked down the path to the cabin.

"Oh, that's right. You haven't seen her since the blow-up in the barn, have you?" Frank had sensed how tense Joe had been all afternoon, but he thought it was because he was still hacked off at Tim.

Joe shook his head. "Not after you two found the body. Too much commotion."

"Well, I wouldn't worry," Frank said with a grin. "I'm sure she's forgiven you."

"I need to see her though. Tim said some things to her, and I want..." He paused. "I just really need to talk to her."

Frank smiled as he followed his brother up the path. He knew Joe didn't have to worry about Emily, but he thought it was probably good that he did. It meant he wasn't taking her for granted.

They opened the cabin door to find Nancy sitting on a barstool at the breakfast counter, scribbling furiously on a legal pad.

"I am so glad you two are back, although I'm not thrilled you went to investigate without me."

"I'm sorry, honey," Frank said as he walked over for a hug. "The sheriff offered us a ride to Jim Randolph's and we had to take advantage of the opportunity. I didn't have time to come back and get you, or I would have."

"Well, ordinarily I'd be more mad, but something else happened." Her eyes flashed with excitement. "You'll never guess what I discovered."

Frank smiled at her enthusiasm. "What?"

"Jim Randolph wasn't murdered here at all. He was dumped here."

"How do you know that?" Frank asked. "When Ed picked us up, he told us the sheriff had spoken with the coroner and Randolph had been shot, but he didn't say anything about the body being moved." He watched as Joe glanced around the room, undoubtedly looking for Emily.

"I found smeared blood stains in the creek bed, and some leaves near the place where his body ended up, that don't belong to any of the plants around there."

"Wow, this changes things quite a bit," Frank said. That meant someone was either purposefully trying to frame someone on the ranch or trying to deliver some sort of message to Ed. "We found something interesting in his house, too." He turned to Joe. "Blueprints?"

Joe handed him the cylinder he'd snatched out of the truck bed after Ed had gone inside the farmhouse. "Hey Nancy, where's Emily?"

"Oh, that's right." Nancy stood. "She went with her aunt to spend the night at a friend's house. She said she was sorry she missed you…that she really wanted to talk to you before she left, but she couldn't."

"What?"

"Susan was all upset about the body, and insisted she couldn't stay on the ranch without Ed," Nancy explained. "I guess he's going to some meeting in Tulsa or something."

"So she just left?" Joe sounded incredulous.

"Basically," Nancy replied. "Susan practically dragged Emily with her. Tim took them about half an hour ago."

"_Tim_ took them?"

"Yeah?" Nancy seemed puzzled. "Is that a problem?"

"Yeah, that's a problem," Joe said, storming off to his bedroom.

Nancy looked at Frank. "What did I do?"

"Nothing," Frank sighed. "Tim and Joe got into a fist-fight in the barn today."

"Are you serious?"

"Yeah, Tim tried to make a move on Emily, Joe came unglued, one thing led to another, and Jake and I had to pull them apart."

"Emily never mentioned that."

"She probably just wants to forget the whole thing," Frank said with a chuckle.

"She didn't seem mad at Joe," Nancy mused.

"No, I don't think she is. Joe's just feeling a little insecure, I guess. I don't know what Tim said to Emily, but Joe's kind of upset about it." He looked at Nancy and smiled. "I'll talk to him tonight. Right now you need to see this." He unrolled the blueprints.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: **Thank you for reviewing, Caranath, unobtrusive, zenfrodo, Jackie, bhar and Vinsmouse! It's very much appreciated. A cattle drive and a couple more clues today. Thank you also to those reading!

Chapter 19

Around eight that evening, Frank was standing in front of the refrigerator looking for a snack and Joe was lying on the living room couch, when a knock sounded on the cabin door.

"Come on in," Joe called.

Frank reached for a bottle of apple juice and popped the lid as Ed stepped through the door. "Howdy, folks. I don't mean to bother you, but I just got off the phone with the coroner, and I thought I'd drop by to give you his report before I head into Tulsa."

Nancy had appeared at her bedroom door and rushed into the room at Ed's news. "Did he have something important to tell you?"

Frank smiled at her eagerness. He had to hand it to her. She was not letting the macho attitude most of the men on this ranch had slow her down one bit. He was proud of her.

"Yeah." Ed scratched his head then looked at Frank. "Do you want the little lady hearing stuff like this?"

Frank chuckled. He thought he'd let Nancy handle that comment.

"This 'little lady' has read lots of coroner's reports. You're not going to be telling me anything I haven't heard before at least a dozen times."

Ed looked up and Frank nodded to him over Nancy's head.

"Well, all right. I guess you know Randolph was shot," he began. "But apparently they also found some stab wounds on his neck. Puncture wounds."

"An ice pick?" Nancy guessed.

Ed looked shocked. "How did you know? Sheriff Payne found an ice pick near the fishing gear, but he wasn't sure what it meant. Thing is, they think he was shot first. That's what killed him. Don't know why you'd have to stab him afterwards."

Joe walked over to them. "Killing someone with an ice pick isn't an easy thing to do. You could be overpowered and killed yourself."

Frank put his hand up to his chin in thought. "So, shooting him would be a way to make sure you killed him without risking your own life. And then you could use the ice pick afterwards to send a message." Now if he just knew what in the hell that message was supposed to be, they might actually get somewhere on this case.

"And just what kind of message would that be?" Ed said, voicing Frank's concerns.

"Well, it obviously has to do with the poem. 'Some say the world will end in ice,'" Joe said. "Randolph's world ended with an ice pick."

"Yeah, and the fact that he was murdered answered our questions about the other note we found," Nancy said. "'I was never kinder to the old man than in that whole week before I murdered him.'"

"But why is the question?" Frank looked at Ed. "Is there anything else you can tell us about him? Who his friends were? Where he hung out? Any big plans he was working on?"

Ed shrugged. "He kind of kept to himself for the most part. He did go to a bar outside of town a ways. Kind of a rough place."

"What's it called?" Joe asked.

"We all just call it the waterin' hole." Ed chuckled. "I think its rightful name is the 'Trail's End.' Like I said, it's a rough place." He glanced in Nancy's direction, then cleared his throat. "They've got dancin' and it's where you might find yourself, uh, a paid companion if you were interested in that sort of thing."

"I see," Frank said. Apparently Jim Randolph led a hard life. Maybe spent some time around some unsavory characters. That might be a clue. "And did he go there often?"

Ed nodded. "Quite a bit from what I heard."

"Thanks," Frank replied. "We'll see what we can find out."

"Now don't forget about the cattle drive. They'll be meeting by the barn at five in the mornin'." Ed turned to go when Joe stopped him.

"Ed, can you tell me where Emily and Susan went, and if there's a phone number I can call to talk to her?"

"Tim said he took them to Mary Lou's, and sorry, she doesn't have a phone."

Joe seemed incredulous. "She doesn't have a phone?"

"Nope, she's an old-timer and she doesn't see the need for one." Ed chuckled. "Said if she ever got one of them 'new-fangled gadgets', folks would stop visiting her. She's probably right." He patted Joe on the shoulder. "Don't you go worrying none. Em will be here when you get back from the drive."

He walked out the door with a wave. Frank smiled at Nancy and gave her a meaningful look. Nancy nodded in understanding and left the room quietly. Frank put his hand on Joe's shoulder. "Want to tell me about it?"

Joe sighed as he walked into the kitchen and grabbed a soft drink from the fridge. "I really wanted to talk to her." He popped the top off the can and took a sip.

"She's not mad at you." Frank took a seat on a barstool.

Joe shrugged. "It isn't that. Tim asked her to marry him."

"Marry him? Wow, he is an ass." Frank couldn't believe it. That guy really had some… Well, never mind. He needed to focus on Joe. "I'm pretty sure she didn't say yes."

"She turned him down flat." Joe grinned. "It was what else he said. He implied that _I_ didn't want to marry her. He almost said I was just using her."

Joe looked up and Frank could see the pain in his eyes. He knew how much Joe loved Emily. And he knew Emily knew that, as well.

"Emily knows that's not true."

"She hesitated." Joe shook his head. "I do want to marry her. I love her more than anything." He looked intently at Frank. "I will marry her. I can't now, though. I don't have enough money. Not until I'm finished with school."

"Then you need to tell her that when she gets back."

Joe nodded. "I plan to. I just hate for her to wonder about me. To have any doubt at all in her mind."

"I know." Frank smiled. "Give Em some credit. She knows you love her."

"Yeah," he said softly. Then, suddenly seeming embarrassed, he changed the subject. "So, what should we do about Randolph?"

Frank smiled inwardly. That was about as emotional as Joe was going to get. Time to switch gears. "I guess we hang out in the bar for awhile when we get back."

Joe nodded. "You know, the fact that the person doing all of this is leaving messages in poetry means something." He threw up his hands, "What, I don't know..."

"I agree. Ed claimed he didn't know who Robert Frost was." Frank stood. "Maybe there's a message in that somewhere. Maybe the person doing this is trying to prove that they're somehow better than the cowboys around here."

"Well, just because you're a cowboy, doesn't mean you can't read Frost or Poe," Joe countered.

"I know, but maybe the person writing the notes thinks that. Maybe it's a commentary on ranch life somehow."

"You mean that it's stifling? Limiting? Small?" Joe tossed out adjectives.

"Something like that." Frank smiled at his brother. "Gives us something to think about."

"Yeah, let's throw it on the pile with everything else we can't figure out." Joe yawned. "I'm going to bed. Especially if we have to get up at the crack of dawn."

Frank grinned. "Yeah, I think I'll go to bed, too."

Joe glared at him. "Don't rub it in. And keep it down, I want to sleep."

Frank tossed a sofa pillow at him.

OOOoooOOO

Joe wasn't in a good mood when he woke up at four-thirty the next morning. He hated getting up early. No, more than that_. _He hated going to sleep without Emily next to him. And even more than that, he hated what Tim Carlson had said to her. He sighed as he crammed some extra jeans into a backpack, and turned at the sound of his bedroom door opening.

"You ready?" Frank asked.

Joe nodded and zipped the backpack closed. "Yeah." He stepped past his brother and walked to the kitchen. He tossed his bag on the counter, grabbed a carton of orange juice out of the fridge, held it to his mouth and chugged down the contents. "Nancy up?"

"No. She was earlier, but she went back to sleep." Frank tried to act nonchalant, but Joe wasn't born yesterday. Not to mention, his brother had that 'I just had sex' glint in his eye.

"Frank, you dog." He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and tossed the empty carton in the trash.

Frank grinned and grabbed his own backpack from beside the cabin door. "Come on, let's go. We have cattle to rustle."

Joe snorted as he followed him out the door. "Whatever the hell that means."

OOOoooOOO

Nancy opened her eyes at nine-fifteen, reached for the clock next to her bed and groaned_. Geez, why did I sleep so late?_ She lay back on her pillow and smiled, remembering how Frank had awakened her before dawn. _That's why I slept so late,_ _he wore me out_. She forced herself to jump out of bed and head for the shower. _And now that 'Mr. Cautious' is gone, it's time for me to do some real investigating. _

OOOoooOOO

Joe pulled up the bandana around his neck to cover his mouth and nose. The dust the cattle were kicking up was becoming unbearable. He glanced over at Frank who had done the same thing. Joe's eyes stung as he surveyed what seemed like ten miles of cattle ahead of him.

Tim Carlson rode up and down the line, shouting out orders to the men. He galloped past Joe and hollered, "Let's get a move on Hardy, you're making a gap in my line. We don't like slackers out here."

Joe rolled his eyes as he nudged his horse forward a little more. Tim didn't even glance at him as he rode off toward the front of the line. Joe turned to Frank and could see the grin he was sporting, even under his bandana. This was going to be a damn long day.

OOOoooOOO

Showered and freshly dressed in khaki shorts and a white button down shirt, Nancy headed up to the farmhouse. She knocked on the door, and when no one answered, tried the knob. It turned easily in her hand.

"Hello?" she called out.

When she received no response, she began to wander through the main floor.

"Anybody home?"

She smiled to herself. Of course no one was home. Susan and Emily were still at their friend's house, and Ed was at his meeting.

Nancy headed for Ed's office. Time to get down to business. She tried Ed's office door and happily found it unlocked. Swinging it open, she began looking over the papers on his desk. Everything seemed ordinary and related to the day to day running of ranch operations.

Nancy sighed after fifteen minutes of going over reports on cattle weight and feed, and sat down in Ed's chair. _Where would I put something that I didn't want anyone else who might come in here to find? _

Her eyes surveyed the room and rested on the old-fashioned wooden filing cabinet in the corner. "Bingo," she said aloud.

OOOoooOOO

Frank turned to Joe six hours later when they stopped for their noontime meal. He'd grabbed a sandwich and a can of pop from the pickup truck known affectionately as the "chuck wagon", and sat down on the grass. "Having fun?"

Joe glared at him. "I will when I finally get the chance to knock him on his ass again." He gestured to Tim, who was standing ten feet away, laughing with a group of cowboys.

"Joe, we're here to investigate." Frank peeled the wax paper off his sandwich and took a large bite. "How much information do you think we're going to get from these cowboys if you get into a brawl with the ranch foreman?"

Joe sat silently eating his sandwich.

"Joe?" Frank was insistent. "I need you to promise you'll stay away from Tim."

Joe still didn't reply.

"Will you do it for Emily? She's expecting you to find out who's threatening her aunt and uncle. She's counting on you."

"He's an ass."

"No kidding. But right now we need cooperation and we won't get it if you alienate every damned cowboy on this ranch."

"He's baiting me."

"So don't give in."

"He's practically asking for it."

Frank sighed. He could see that a major part of his time was going to be spent keeping Joe from flattening one of their best sources of information in this case.

OOOoooOOO

Nancy hurried over to the filing cabinet and began searching through the drawers. The first one contained more feeding information…types of grain used and in what proportion. The second drawer held sales records of cattle going back ten years. Nancy shook her head and reached for the third drawer. It was locked. She smiled. _I think I may finally be getting somewhere. _

She searched Ed's desk for keys, and came up empty. Seizing on inspiration, she ran upstairs to Susan's bedroom and grabbed a bobby pin from a tray on her dresser. _I wonder if the guy who invented this even realized how much breaking and entering would be committed with one of these little things? _

Hurrying back into Ed's office, she slipped it into the file cabinet lock, grinning as she felt the tumblers pop. She slid the drawer open easily and her grin widened as she surveyed the files inside, all labeled neatly with dates from the past six months. She quickly pulled out the first one, dated a week before they arrived at the ranch and began reading.

"This is a letter from Jim Randolph," she whispered. Nancy read on, her eyes widening as she realized a land deal was in the works to obtain Ed's ranch and the neighboring Brookings ranch for a development project. _This confirms that Ed knew about the deal. This must be the same development project Frank and Joe found the blueprints for. Now we're getting somewhere._

She hurriedly scanned through the file, finding a copy of a letter Ed sent to Randolph expressing his displeasure with the plan and his intention to fight the deal…in court, if necessary. _So, someone must be pressuring Ed to give in. Someone wants this deal to go through and Ed's holding out. _

Nancy smiled as she replaced the file. Motive.

OOOoooOOO

Frank and Joe walked back to their horses, and were preparing to mount them again, when a cowboy approached them.

"Hey, you guys are new around here, ain't ya?

"Is it that obvious?" Frank asked with a grin.

"Naw, you ride fine. Just never seen you before. Where are you from?"

"Not from around here," Frank said with a chuckle. "We're friends of Emily Clark. We're trying to help Ed and Susan out with a few things." He extended his hand. "I'm Frank Hardy and this is my brother Joe. He's Emily's boyfriend."

"I'm Rich Newsome." He looked at Joe. "Emily's boyfriend, huh? Does Carlson know that?"

"Yeah," Joe replied, shaking his outstretched hand.

Rich chuckled. "So that's why you're riding at the back of the herd. Tim's had his sights set on Emily for a good many years now. Can't say as I blame him, she sure is gorgeous."

"Thank you," Joe replied.

"Yep, I'm guessing you're not one of his favorite people right now."

"No kidding," Joe snorted.

Frank thought this guy might be the perfect one to pump for some information. He was friendly and he obviously knew something about the people on Ed's ranch.

"Hey, Rich?" Frank said. "We're trying to help Ed and Susan figure out who's been vandalizing their ranch. Have you heard anything about it?"

Rich nodded. "It's too bad, ain't it? They are two of the nicest people I know. And Ed's fair and honest." He shrugged. "I don't know anybody who doesn't like them."

"We're trying to figure out a motive," Frank explained. "Seems like someone is trying to intimidate them. Do you know why anyone might want Ed's land or want them to leave?"

"Not so's I've heard, but I'll ask around," Rich said. "Any friends of Emily's are okay in my book. I'll check back and let you know what I find out."

"Thanks, we appreciate it," Frank said with a smile.

"No worries," Rich waved. "Oh, and Joe?"

"Yeah?"

"Watch your back. If you're on his bad side, Carlson can be an ornery son of a bitch."

Joe nodded. "Thanks."

Frank chuckled to himself thinking that Joe could fit that exact description himself at times, given the right set of circumstances.

OOOoooOOO

Nancy hurriedly stuffed the file back into the cabinet drawer when she heard Susan's voice on the front porch. She closed it silently, straightened the desk and pulled the office door shut as Susan and Emily stepped into the parlor of the farmhouse.

"Well, it's nice to see you back," Nancy called out. She let out a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. Got out of there just in time.

Susan smiled. "It's nice to be back. A night away was just what I needed."

"Are you feeling better, then?"

"A little." Susan smiled and carried her small overnight bag past Nancy. "I've resolved not to think about what's going on as much. Emily reassured me with her stories of the mysteries and cases you all have solved. You're obviously very good at what you do, and I'm taking comfort in that. I know you'll be able to solve this case as well."

"We are definitely going to do our best," Nancy said, wondering if Emily hadn't been too liberal with her praise.

She waited until she could hear the floorboards creaking upstairs, indicating Susan was in her room, before she turned to Emily. "I think I know why this vandalism is happening."


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: **Thank you so much for the comments, Caranath, leya, unobtrusive, Jackie, zenfrodo, Vinsmouse and Kenna! I love hearing your theories. Thanks also to those who are reading! Another mystery focused chapter.

Chapter 20

Emily's eyes widened as she looked at Nancy. "You know why my aunt and uncle are being threatened?"

Nancy nodded and led Emily outside to the front porch. "I found some letters in a locked drawer in your Uncle's filing cabinet. I broke in. I'm sorry." She hoped that wouldn't upset Em too much.

Emily waved her hand in front of her. "Don't worry about it. What did you learn?"

"That there's a proposal from some corporation. They want to buy and develop the land on your uncle's ranch and the Brookings'."

"What does that mean, exactly?"

"It means that someone wants your uncle to sell this land."

"And he knows about it?"

Nancy nodded. "I also found a copy of a letter he sent to the developers and Jim Randolph, telling them in no uncertain terms, that he's not interested."

Emily tilted her head. "So, you think that whoever is doing this, is doing it to pressure my uncle into selling his land?"

"Yes."

"What kind of development is the buyer interested in?"

"Housing. They want to turn the ranches into little pieces of suburbia."

Emily wrinkled her nose. "The people around here would never go for that." She paced back and forth on the porch. "And besides, this land isn't zoned for development. Even if my uncle did want to sell, the sale wouldn't be approved."

"Yeah," Nancy said. "Unless the county is thinking of changing the zoning laws."

"Don't they need public approval for that?" Emily shook her head. "That would never happen."

"Don't be too sure, Em," Nancy said. "People can be bought…or threatened."

"So is this why Randolph was murdered?"

"I think so," Nancy replied. "But this also opens up an entirely new can of worms. Someone most likely killed Randolph because they didn't like the proposal. And yet someone is also trying to intimidate your Uncle Ed into selling his land. It looks like there might be two separate cases here.

Emily frowned. "You mean the person who's intimidating my uncle wants the development deal to go through, and whoever killed Jim Randolph wants it stopped?"

Nancy nodded. She knew Emily was going to put this all together and come up with the same worrisome theory she had.

"But Nancy, right now it seems like my uncle killed Randolph to stop the deal!"

"There isn't one shred of evidence to prove that, Em." Nancy wanted to be reassuring. "If your uncle killed Randolph, why would he drag his body to his own land to be discovered? That doesn't make sense."

Emily took a deep breath as she nodded her head.

"What it really looks like is that somebody may have killed Randolph and then brought his body here to try and frame your uncle for it," Nancy explained.

"Then couldn't the same person who did that also be the person committing the vandalism?"

"Definitely. I mean what better way to turn up the heat on your uncle than by trying to get him accused of murder?" Nancy really hoped that's what it was. Because having two different criminals committing two different crimes for different reasons was really going to throw a wrench in things. She just wished she knew which scenario was the correct one.

OOOoooOOO

Joe was lying with his head on his backpack and his eyes closed, when Frank approached with two plates in hand. "Hungry?"

Joe shifted a bit, but didn't open his eyes. "I have no idea. I'm so damn tired, I can't feel anything else."

Frank sat down beside him and nudged him. "Well, here. Eat this anyway. It's all we'll get until tomorrow. By the time you realize you _are_ hungry, it'll be too late." And then Frank would have to listen to his complaining. He pushed the plate toward Joe again.

Joe struggled to sit and took his dinner from Frank. He grabbed the hamburger and began wolfing it down.

Frank chuckled. "Besides, when are you not hungry?"

"Hey!" a voice called out from the other side of the chuck wagon.

Frank looked up to see Rich Newsome approaching them.

"How was your ride?" the cowboy asked.

Joe rolled his eyes. "Great."

Rich laughed and sat down across from them. "Tim usually rotates the rear drive position." He gave Joe a friendly slap on the arm. "Unless you've really pissed him off."

"I'm sure I have," Joe said, his mouth full.

"Then you'll probably be eatin' more dust tomorrow," Rich said with a grin. He looked at Frank. "I've been talkin' to some of the cowboys."

"And?" Frank prompted.

"Well, they ain't worked up about too much, but there is this one thing."

"What?"

"Seems like some big company in California wants to come in and make a planned community here," Rich explained. "Whatever that is. So, they're looking at Pete and Ed's ranches to do it."

A planned community? That didn't sound like anything that would be welcomed with open arms. In fact, Frank was pretty sure something like that could even provoke violence in the right people. "I can't imagine that would be popular with the folks around here," he said, eating a fork full of barbecued beans.

"It ain't." Rich leaned back on his elbows. "These sorts of things come up every now and again. Just seems these guys are a little more persistent about it this time." He shrugged. "Of course we're all a little worried. Pete's lookin' to retire pretty soon and turn everything over to his daughter..."

"Jamie?" Joe interrupted.

Rich nodded. "He don't want her to have to fight these kinds of battles. Ranchin' is hard enough as it is. I guess that's what got the cowboys riled. The thought of Jamie havin' to deal with this sort of nonsense. They want to make sure these guys leave town and never come back."

"So, do you think that's why Jim Randolph was murdered then?" Frank asked casually. He definitely wanted to see the cowboy's reaction to that bit of news.

Rich's jaw went slack and his mouth dropped open. "Murdered? I heard he had a heart attack when he was fishin' or somethin' like that."

Frank shrugged. "That's not what the coroner's report said. Of course, I guess he could have had a heart attack after he was shot."

"Shot?" Rich shook his head then looked to Frank as if trying to clarify what he'd just heard. "Randolph was shot?"

"Execution style," Joe added, eating a handful of potato chips. "It wasn't an accident."

Rich furrowed his brow. "Well now, this does shake things up a little bit, doesn't it? I guess he must have been pushing a little too hard to get this proposal through the town council." He stood up. "I'll go ask around again. We can't have this sort of thing happenin' around here. Somebody has to know something."

Joe turned to Frank as Rich walked away. "I'd say he's telling the truth."

Frank swallowed the last of his hamburger. "Yeah, his surprise over Randolph was genuine." He looked at Joe. "When we get back to the ranch, I'm going to want to do some more poking around into Randolph's background, and exactly what was going on with this land deal." Because somebody obviously knew a lot more than they were letting on, and Frank was tired of being the one in the dark.

Joe nodded as he stood up. "I'm going for seconds, you want some?"

OOOoooOOO

Emily sat on the steps of the farmhouse front porch, snapping off the ends of fresh green beans and dropping them in a basket. She'd left Nancy in the kitchen busily scribbling out theories, facts and clues on a couple of legal pads, while she'd puttered around the house and yard trying to keep things in order for her aunt. Now she decided she'd better start thinking about making some dinner. And after that she wanted to collapse. Being the woman of the ranch since she'd arrived here had been exhausting, and she couldn't imagine how her aunt had done it all these years.

Nancy pushed through the screen door and sat down next to Emily. She flipped through her notepad without looking up. Her brow furrowed as she tapped her pen on the paper.

Emily waited patiently.

"I think we need to check into Randolph's background some more. What do you know about him?" Nancy asked.

Emily shrugged. "Not much. I mean, I know my aunt and uncle have mentioned him a time or two in the past, but to be honest, I never paid attention."

"Well then, I think we need to do some poking around."

"You mean, you, Frank and Joe need to do some poking around. I'm not a detective, remember?" Emily smiled. She didn't mind helping out when she could, especially if she knew something about what was being investigated…like art. But in this case, she felt like a fish out of water.

Nancy waved her hand in the air. "If Bess Marvin can do detective work, then so can you."

Emily sighed and set her basket down. This was Nancy. She was not going to be easily deterred. "What did you have in mind?"

Nancy got a glint in her eye. "Your Uncle Ed mentioned a bar that Randolph hung out in..."

"Um, yeah, 'The Trail's End.' You're not thinking of going there, are you? That's a pretty rough place."

"I'm sure I've been in rougher," Nancy said. "It's the only place I can think of to get information where we won't be noticed."

"Won't be noticed? Are you kidding?" Emily's voice rose. "Nancy the only girls who hang out there are…"

Nancy's eyes were twinkling and a half smile turned up the corners of her mouth.

"Oh, no. You are not..._we _are not..." Emily stared at her friend. Was she insane? A bar where men went to pick up hookers?

"Only for a few minutes. You don't have to come. I'll get in, get our information, and get out."

Emily looked at Nancy warily. "How can you be so sure it'll be that easy?"

"Well, I'm not," she admitted. "I'm just desperate for information. Randolph was murdered…apparently because of this land deal, so we need to get as much information on him as we can."

"I still think Frank and Joe should be the ones to go to the bar." Because Emily could not imagine trying to pull off what Nancy was suggesting.

Nancy shook her head. "No, everyone in there would clam up. They'd be suspicious of two city-slicker guys from out of town, and no one would tell them anything. In fact, it would have the opposite effect. If anyone really did know something incriminating, two strange guys poking around and asking questions would make them defensive." She smiled at Emily. "It has to be me."

Emily crossed her arms in front of her. "So, let me get this straight. You want to go into this bar, dressed as a hooker, and try to get information on Jim Randolph." Yep, Nancy was definitely insane.

"Yes."

"Frank will have a fit."

"Frank won't know it's happening," Nancy said with a smile. "He can yell at me afterwards."

"And he will too," Emily said emphatically. "I can hear him right now. But if you're dead set on doing this, I'm coming too. I can't let you go in there alone." She sighed. There was no point in fighting her on this. Nancy knew what she wanted, and she was going to do it whether Emily liked it or not.

"Thanks. And don't worry...I'll take all the blame," Nancy assured her. "Now, give me some time to think this through, so we can come up with a viable plan. The guys won't be back until the day after tomorrow. If we can sneak over there tomorrow night, they'll never even have to know."


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: **As always, thank you for reviewing, Caranath, zenfrodo, unobtrusive, Jackie, Vinsmouse, bhar, Maddi and leya! You make my day! :) In this chapter, more fun on the cattle drive and Nancy continues her plotting. Thanks to those reading!

Chapter 21

Frank was saddled up the next morning and ready to ride when Joe called to him. "Hey, Frank! Your girlfriend's here."

He looked up, expecting to see Nancy, and shot Joe a look of irritation when he realized his brother was referring to Jamie Brookings.

"Frank, this is a great opportunity," Joe continued. "This girl could be a goldmine of information. And with just a little encouragement from you, she'll tell us everything we want to know."

"Encouragement?" Frank turned to his brother. "What exactly do you mean by that?" The last thing Jamie needed was encouragement as far as he was concerned. If he encouraged her, he was afraid she'd throw him to the ground and rip his clothes off right on the spot.

"Not what you think I meant," Joe said with a grin. "I meant that you need to be nice to her. Not look at her like you're scared to death of her."

"I_ am_ scared of her."

"She doesn't have to know that." Joe chuckled. "Use a little bit of that Hardy charm. You do have some, don't you?"

"I guess we'll see," Frank said as Jamie trotted over to them. She pulled up on her horse's reins and flashed Frank a wide smile.

"Mornin' cowboy!"

"Hi, Jamie," Frank greeted her. "I didn't know you'd be on the drive." Casual, friendly…but not encouraging. He wasn't going to go there.

"Yep, I've got to help supervise. Part of my job."

Frank nodded. "That's great. Is your father here, too?" Because Frank really wanted to talk to him. Maybe Pete wouldn't be as reticent about what had been going on as Ed had been.

"He will be. He's coming later, after the Cattlemen's meeting." She moved closer to Frank and nudged him a bit. "Hey, you didn't stop by the other day to look at those papers from the county. You know, the ones about land development?"

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," Frank told her. "When we got back to the ranch, we found Jim Randolph's body, and things got pretty busy."

"I heard about that," Jamie said, shaking her head. "Poor guy. I knew all that fast food was going to do him in someday."

"Well, it may have, eventually," Joe cut in. "But Randolph died from a gunshot wound."

"What?" Jamie looked startled. "A gunshot? You mean, he was _shot_ yesterday?"

"I'm afraid so," Frank said.

"Why would anyone want to shoot him?"

Joe shrugged. "That's what we're trying to figure out. Did you know him?"

"Yes. I mean, we weren't exactly friends or anything like that. He always came by the ranch to see my father, but he seemed like a decent guy." She looked up. "Are you sure he was shot? When I talked to my dad yesterday, he only mentioned that Randolph had a heart attack."

"He wouldn't have known unless he'd spoken to the coroner. And the official report wasn't ready until almost dinner…er…supper time last night," Joe explained.

Jamie nodded. "I drove into Tulsa to get some extra supplies for the drive yesterday afternoon. I guess I must have missed all the excitement. Wow, that's really sad."

Frank observed her quietly. She did seem shocked and upset by what she'd just heard. Maybe Joe was right…she could be a good source of information. He would try a little encouragement. But just a little. "If it's okay, Jamie, I would still like to come and look at those papers."

"Of course you can." She smiled at him again as she turned her horse. "Why don't you two follow me? If you stay here, you'll be stuck at the rear of the drive and you don't want that."

"You don't have to ask me twice," Joe mumbled as he nudged his horse forward. He leaned in toward Frank as he passed him. "Remember, turn on the charm."

"I thought I did," Frank muttered to himself.

OOOoooOOO

Right before lunch, Nancy wandered out of her bedroom in the cabin to the living room, where she found Emily lying on the couch, flipping through a fashion magazine.

"What? You aren't cooking or cleaning something? Alert the media," Nancy teased.

Emily laughed. "I've had it with domestic chores for awhile. Aunt Susan went into town for some groceries and I'm taking a break."

Nancy sat next to her. "You definitely deserve one. Besides, I need you well rested to pull off your 'lady of the evening' impersonation tonight."

Emily heaved herself to a sitting position. "You still want to do that?"

"Of course. Honestly, it's the only way I can think of to dig for information, and it's the next logical step in this investigation."

"So how do we dig for information and play the part of hookers at the same time? Oh, and not get assaulted."

Nancy smiled. "I'll ask the questions. You just play along."

"And playing along means…making eyes at creepy guys? Dancing? Drinking?"

"You've had plenty of experience at fending off unwanted advances, Em," Nancy said with a laugh. "I've watched you in action. You somehow manage to be sweet about it and still get away from them."

"Not always."

"Well, you definitely have more finesse than I do," Nancy insisted. "I usually end up shouting obscenities at them. Something I'm not sure will work with our cover tonight."

Emily laughed. "Yeah, I'm pretty sure hookers are _wanting _the men to pick them up."

"Okay, then I'll follow your lead on getting the men to back off, and you follow mine on the questioning. Deal?"

"Deal." Emily shook her head. What on earth had she just gotten herself into?

OOOoooOOO

As the cowboys paused for lunch, Joe eased himself down near Frank and his pile of gear, while Jamie joined them, sitting on the opposite side of Frank.

"Did you get enough to eat?" she asked with a smile.

"Yep, I'm stuffed," Joe assured her, rubbing his stomach. He was planning on having some fun with this.

"How about you, Frank?" Jamie ran her hand down the length of his arm and sidled into him.

"Um, yeah. It was terrific." Frank shifted himself closer to Joe.

Joe chuckled to himself. _Scared much? _

"That's good," Jamie drawled. "I wouldn't want you to be riding on an empty stomach. We have another busy day ahead of us."

"No, no, I'm definitely not hungry," Frank replied. "How about you? Did you get enough to eat?"

Joe rolled his eyes at his brother's nervousness, while Jamie shot Frank another seductive smile.

"Well, I admit, I am still a little hungry." She snuggled closer to Frank. "But not for food."

Frank jumped to the side until he was practically in Joe's lap. Joe coughed loudly to disguise his laughter, then grinned at Frank. Big brother was definitely going to need rescuing here. Clearing his throat, he spoke up. "Uh, Jamie? Hi. You're a very sweet girl and all, but Frank already has a girlfriend...well, she's actually more like a wife, and uh, she's really the only one he's interested in at the moment."

Jamie looked up at Frank from under heavily lidded eyelashes. "You mean Nancy?" She shrugged. "She didn't look like all that much. I'm thinking you need a real woman."

Frank turned fifty shades of red and gently removed Jamie's hand from his thigh. "She is most definitely a 'real woman', Jamie. And I love her very much. I'm sorry."

Jamie sighed, then turned to Joe and smiled. "You're pretty cute, too."

Joe grinned. "But I'm also very taken. You do remember Emily, don't you?"

Jamie rolled her eyes. "How could I forget?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Joe asked, a touch of indignation in his voice.

Jamie sighed. "She ruined Tim for me. I thought for sure he'd end up being mine someday. But he's only ever been interested in Emily."

"Yeah?" Joe said. "Well, don't let that bother you, because he won't be getting Emily. If you want Tim, then go for it. I'll even help you."

OOOoooOOO

Nancy had been running theories about the case through her head for the better part of the day, while she waited for it to get late enough to head to the bar. She sat on the front porch swing of the farmhouse, trying to catch the afternoon sun before the clouds that were gathering in the sky obliterated it completely. She had Frank's legal pad in hand, writing and then crossing out, all sorts of possible scenarios for suspects. She paused when Emily came through the front door, laundry basket in hand.

"Back to work, I see. Do you need any help?" Nancy asked.

Emily smiled. "No, I'm fine. Just going to bring in the clothes from the line before the rain starts."

"Your aunt doesn't have an electric dryer?"

"She does," Emily admitted. "She just likes things hung outside when the weather is nice. The clothes smell better."

"Are you sure you don't need any help? You've been working like a crazy woman ever since we got to this ranch."

"I don't mind," Emily told her. "I think it's getting harder for my aunt to do all the stuff that needs to be done around here by herself. Plus, her resolve not to worry lasted exactly one day. The only thing she could talk about since she got back from town was Jim Randolph being murdered. I'm scared she's close to cracking up over this." She sat down on the swing next to Nancy. "Any new leads?"

"A few possibilities. Nothing concrete. I'm hoping we'll get something from our bar visit. Because we really need some solid information that'll point us in the right direction."

"Well, Joe and Frank will be back tomorrow morning," Emily said with a smile. "Maybe they've heard something that'll help."

"Let's hope so." Because Nancy was beyond frustrated at this point.

Emily hopped up. "I'll check in with you later then." She lifted her basket. "The clothesline is calling my name."

Nancy watched her as she hurried down the front steps. _How do I tell her that right now because there are literally no other clues, I think her Uncle Ed may be one of the prime suspects?_

OOOoooOOO

"So Jamie," Frank asked, as he nudged his horse next to hers later that afternoon. "What makes you want to stay here on the ranch?"

She looked around and Frank watched her gazing at the sun disappearing behind the clouds to the west, the cattle mooing as they walked, and the cowboys on their horses, loping along.

"This," she gestured with a smile. "All of this. It's so peaceful. And it's home."

Frank nodded. The smile on her face was genuine. She really did seem to love it here. Which probably meant she didn't want the ranches turned into suburban sprawl.

Joe approached her on the other side. "Isn't it going to be hard to run this all by yourself?"

Jamie laughed. "It's all I've ever done. I know this better than anything. It isn't hard."

"Sounds like you're always going to be fighting off someone who wants to take your land," Joe continued.

She shrugged. "It's part of the game. Along with bad weather, prairie fires, and cattle market fluctuations. It's what ranching is all about."

"I'll bet it's been harder since your mother passed away though, hasn't it?" Frank asked softly. He didn't want to upset her, but he wanted more information. If either Pete or Jamie thought ranching would be too difficult for them in the future, that would be a reason to sell.

"I've had more work to do," Jamie admitted. "In some ways, it's been easier though. My mother never really liked it out here."

"She didn't?" Frank prodded.

"She was a city girl," she continued, her lips forming a tight line. "She got Dad to promise that when she married him, he wouldn't keep her out here forever." She laughed harshly. "I guess you can see how that turned out."

"Was it hard for your mom that you liked ranching so much?"

Jamie paused. "Yeah. She never wanted to raise a cowgirl, but that's exactly what she did." She prodded her horse lightly with her spurs and began to trot away. "I need to go check with Tim about something," she called back. "Have a nice ride."

"Looks like we hit a sore spot," Joe commented.

"Yeah," Frank agreed. "Now we just have to figure out what it means."


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N:** Thanks so much for the wonderful feedback, Caranath, zenfrodo, Maddi, Vinsmouse, Kenna, unobtrusive, bhar and Jackie! Nancy's visit to the bar is put on hold for the next two chapters to deal with the nasty side of Mother Nature in Oklahoma. But Nan isn't deterred that easily...she'll get there! Thanks so much to those reading as well!

Chapter 22

"Holy cow," Nancy said, looking up from her position at the kitchen table where she'd come for some better light while she read over her notes. "That is some kind of wind out there. I'm worried it's going to derail our investigation plans for this evening." She wasn't sure anyone would want to venture out to a bar in this kind of storm.

"Yeah." Emily glanced out the window. "It's really getting dark outside, too." She opened the oven and pulled out a cookie sheet. "I wish Joe and Frank were back."

Aunt Susan came into the kitchen from the pantry. "They should be here any minute now. When I was out getting some tomatoes from the garden, I saw Tim and Ed headed to the barn."

"Good." Emily slid a chocolate chip cookie onto a spatula and set it on a cooling rack on the counter.

Nancy noticed the strained expression on her face. Emily hadn't talked to Joe since the fight the other day and Nancy knew she'd been concerned about it. "Don't worry, Em. Everything's going to be fine."

Emily smiled at her gratefully. "Thanks, Nance."

Susan opened her mouth, like she was about to ask a question, but was interrupted by Ed bursting through the screen door. "Damn, that wind nearly ripped it off its hinges! We had to hustle those cattle somethin' fierce to get back here before that storm let loose. It took some serious ridin', but we made it." He kissed his wife on the cheek, then looked to Nancy and Emily. "Y'all better get ready. I'm expectin' to hear the siren any minute."

"Siren?" Nancy was puzzled.

"Tornado siren," Emily explained.

"Tornado?" A look of alarm crossed Nancy's face. She wasn't afraid of much, but violent weather was one of her secret phobias. She really didn't want to have to reveal it here. Not in front of this macho crowd.

"You're right smack dab in the middle of tornado alley, darlin'," Ed explained. "And it sure is lookin' like one's about to hit."

"Where are Joe and Frank?" Emily asked her uncle.

"They're comin' along," Ed told her. "They're bringing up the rear of the drive."

"Good," Emily said, as she put the cookie sheet in the sink and turned off the oven.

A sheet of rain suddenly pounded against the window causing Nancy to jump. Ed put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry, sweetheart. We get this all the time here. When the sirens go off, we'll get along to the cellar."

"The cellar?"

Emily smiled. "It's a lot like _The Wizard of Oz, _Nance."

Nancy laughed nervously. "Well, I'm half expecting Miss Gulch to ride by that window on her bicycle any second now."

Ed laughed out loud. "She just might at that."

Tim came crashing through the screen door, water pouring off his hat and his rain slicker. "Man, that is a bad one." He walked over to Ed. "I haltered the horses and turned them out of the barn."

Ed nodded. "I guess we'd better get ready then." As if on cue, the tornado siren began wailing.

Tim walked over to Emily. "I'll take the girls."

"Okay, we'll be right behind you." Ed wandered through the kitchen, turning off the electricity as he went, and grabbing an accordian file from a drawer.

"What's that?" Nancy asked. She thought it might be something she needed to see.

"Insurance policies, some extra cash, account numbers, medical information. Stuff I'll need on hand if the house gets blown apart," Ed said, showing her the contents of the file. "We have to be prepared for this sort of thing out here."

Nancy nodded and stood. She hoped she didn't seem nervous. Looking down, she noticed she was wringing her hands. She balled them into fists and held them at her side. "Do we go into the basement?"

"Outside," Tim directed. "Storm cellar."

"I told you, Nance, _The Wizard of Oz."_ Emily stared at Tim intently. "Where's Joe?"

Tim sighed. "He's comin'. I saw him going into the barn as I was headed here."

"Was Frank with him?" Nancy asked.

"Yeah." Tim took Emily and Nancy by the arm. "Now let's go."

OOO

Emily allowed herself to be led to the door. As soon as the three of them stepped outside, the wind and rain pelted them unmercifully. Tim pulled both Emily and Nancy close to him as they walked across the lawn to the metal door lying flat in the grass. Emily and Nancy clung to each other, as Tim fought against the elements to open it.

After a few moments, he helped both girls down the ladder. "Go to the far side of cellar," he ordered. "I have to leave the door open for Ed and Susan, and you'll get wet."

"I don't think I could get any wetter than I already am," Nancy said, as she wrung out some water from her shirt.

Emily laughed. "I'll bet we both look like drowned rats."

Within five minutes, Ed and Susan descended the ladder, quickly stripping off their wet rain gear, as Tim prepared to close and latch the metal door.

"No!" Emily ran over to him and held onto his arm. "No, you will not leave Joe and Frank out there." She was insistent, because right now she wanted to see Joe more than anything, and not even a tornado was going to stop her.

"Honey, they'll be fine. I have to close this or it doesn't do any good," Tim said, removing her arm from his as he began to climb the ladder.

"No," Emily repeated, grabbing onto him again. "If you do that, I'm leaving."

"Emily," Tim began, stepping down and putting his hands on her shoulders. "I'm not letting you go out there in this storm. It's too dangerous."

"I'm want to find Joe."

"You're not going out there."

"Leave the hatch open for a few minutes, Tim," Ed called out.

At least her uncle was on her side, Emily thought as she ran her hands up and down her arms to try and warm up.

"How will they even know we're down here?" Nancy asked, from the other side of the small earthen dugout.

"Cowboys will let them know." Ed moved over to some makeshift shelves that had been dug into the dirt wall and grabbed a battery powered lantern.

"Where will the cowboys go?" Nancy took the first lantern from Ed and turned it on, while he reached for another one.

"There's a cellar by the barn," Tim explained. "Which is probably where Joe went," he said, staring at Emily pointedly.

Emily narrowed her eyes, put her hands on her hips, and stared right back. There was no way he was winning this one. No way.

"Um, that would be a big no." Nancy looked at Tim meaningfully. "He and Frank will come here. That's just what they'll do. Whether you like it or not."

A big gust of wind blew a torrent of cold rain down the open hatch, drenching Emily and causing her to gasp out loud.

"Get yourself over against that other wall right now!" Tim ordered.

"Only if you promise not to close the door," Emily yelled above the roar of the wind.

"Fine," Tim yelled back.

Emily walked slowly over to Nancy, not completely trusting that Tim was going to keep his word. She remembered all too well the look on the cowboy's face when he fought with Joe in the barn, and she was positive the last thing he wanted was to be locked up in a storm cellar with him.

Nancy sank down on the hard-packed dirt floor, shivering. "How long do we have to stay in here?"

Susan smiled. "Sometimes all night."

Emily paced back and forth anxiously. Why hadn't Joe arrived yet? What could be holding him up? Maybe he didn't know where the storm cellar was. Unable to remain patient any longer, she strode back over to Tim. "I want to go out there and see if they're coming."

Tim sighed. "Am I going to have to turn you over my knee? No. For the last time, you're staying here." He crossed his arms in front of him.

Emily opened her mouth to let Tim have it, when she heard Joe shouting her name loudly. Before Tim could stop her, Emily scrambled to the top of the ladder. "Joe!" she yelled into the wind.

Tim climbed up rapidly behind her and grabbed her around the middle, holding her tightly to his side while he descended the ladder. He set her down on the ground firmly. "Don't do that again."

Nancy hurried up beside her. "Are they coming?"

Emily nodded and smiled. She was shivering uncontrollably and was soaked to the skin after that last blast of cold water from above. Her teeth were chattering so hard she couldn't speak.

Frank and Joe began descending the ladder into the storm cellar. Nancy grabbed onto Frank as soon as his feet touched the hard-packed earth floor.

"Hey, honey." Frank folded her into his arms and walked with her to the other side of the shelter.

Joe stepped down and glared at Tim, as he pulled Emily into him. "Oh, man, did I miss you, baby." Joe held her close. "Honey, you're soaking wet." He held her back from him and she shivered violently.

"Yeah. Because she wouldn't get away from the damn door," Tim complained as he reached up and closed it, dropping the latch into its place.

"I-I wanted to f-find you," she chattered.

Joe quickly pulled off the traditional duster coat he was wearing and wrapped it around her shoulders. "Come on, baby. We've got to get you warmed up." They walked the short distance to the far wall of the shelter.

Susan looked up in dismay. "Oh, this is all my fault," she moaned. "I didn't think to put out extra rain gear for guests. You ran out of the house just like that, didn't you?" She gestured to the girls and their soaking wet t-shirts and shorts, now clinging to them.

Nancy offered a smile. "Tim tried to keep us as dry as he could, but that rain is something else."

Emily cringed slightly as she felt Joe's arm stiffen around her at that remark. This promised to be an interesting evening. She said a silent prayer that the storm would pass by quickly.

"I held 'em both real tight," Tim said with a grin, "but I guess I'm no match for Mother Nature." He reached up onto a nearby shelf and unzipped a plastic storage bag. He handed a pile of blankets and quilts down to Frank. "These should help."

Emily watched while Joe leaned over and grabbed a large army blanket. He unfolded it and held it open behind her. "You need to get out of those wet things right now."

Her teeth chattering violently, Emily nodded, starting to unzip her shorts as best as she could with shaking hands. She was so cold she didn't even stop to think about her aunt standing there.

Susan hurried over to Joe, her mouth hanging open. "What on earth do you think you're doing?"

"Trying to prevent her from freezing to death."

Susan snatched the blanket from him. "Turn around," she ordered Joe, as she held up the blanket behind Emily herself.

Joe sighed and turned his back to his girlfriend.

_Uh, oh_, Emily thought. Maybe she could plead insanity from the cold. Because the look on Aunt Susan's face told her that nothing else other than taking complete leave of her senses would excuse her from almost taking her clothes off in front of Joe.

She glanced over at Frank, who had been holding up a blanket for Nancy as well. He hastily folded it and handed it to his girlfriend.

After Emily had stripped off her shorts and t-shirt, she was about to do the same with her underwear, when Susan stopped her. "Emily, that's not decent," she hissed.

"But they're soaking wet." Emily stared at her aunt. She was definitely losing it. Emily's bra and panties were made of sheer lace and even when dry were almost completely see-through. She caught the look of disapproval in her aunt's eyes. _She's going to buy me a package of white cotton granny panties that come up to my armpits the next time she goes to_ _town. I just know it. _Joe would be horrified. Maybe she'd wear them just to see his reaction.

"You're not going to die from wearing a wet bra. Leave it on." Susan wrapped the blanket around her, then placed a quilt over her shoulders as well. Joe turned back around and put his arms around Emily, while Susan took care of Nancy.

Joe sat down directly across from Tim, pulling Emily onto his lap.

Susan looked down at her. "I think you girls should sit over here with me."

Emily shook her head. "I want Joe."

"But Emily," Susan protested. "You don't have anything on under those blankets. It's...it's not right."

"Oh leave her alone, Susan," Ed spoke up. "For heaven's sake, she's bundled up in ten different layers of fabric."

"That's not the point, Ed," Susan said dryly, as she pulled a quilt tightly around Nancy.

"I'll tell you what the point is," Ed replied. "The point is, she hasn't seen her boyfriend for three days, and she wants to be with him. Leave the kids alone."

OOO

Susan huffed over to her husband, while Frank sat down and situated Nancy between his legs, wrapping his arms around her tightly. "You okay?"

Nancy nodded. "I am now that you're here." She snuggled into him.

Frank smiled as he kissed the side of her head. "Don't tell me this storm scares you?"

"I hate storms," Nancy leaned her head back against his chest. She didn't mind revealing her fears to Frank. She knew he would never think less of her because of them. "I was in a terrible one in River Heights when I was little. Dad wasn't home, and Hannah was probably more terrified than I was. Then hail started pounding against our windows and breaking them." Nancy sighed. "I guess I never really got over that."

Frank held her more closely. "Well, you have nothing to worry about now. I'll keep you safe. I promise."

"I know," Nancy tilted her head up and Frank kissed her softly.

Susan coughed a little and Ed gave her a sharp poke in the ribs.

Frank rolled his eyes. This was going to be a damn long night.

OOO

"It doesn't sound like it's dying down any out there," Joe commented about ten minutes later.

"Nope, it sure doesn't," Ed replied. "Wish I'd grabbed some of your cookies, Em."

Joe bent his head down toward her. "You made cookies?"

Emily nodded, still shaking. "Ch-chocolate chip."

Joe cuddled her close to him. "My favorite."

Emily smiled. "Th-that's why I made them."

Joe kissed her forehead. He had been so worried the entire time he'd been on the cattle drive. He knew how hurt Emily had been over the fight he'd had with Tim and he wasn't sure what her mood would be when he got back to the ranch. He was afraid hurt might have turned into anger over the past two days. But it hadn't. They way Emily had hugged and kissed him told him that much. She still loved him. He wasn't going to lose her.

OOO

Tim shifted his position and glared at Joe. The bastard clearly had his hand underneath all the blankets Em was wrapped up in. Tim's eyes narrowed as watched Joe make a movement with his hand that could only come from unfastening a bra. He saw Joe fold the undergarment deftly with one hand and tuck it carefully into his pocket. The black, lacy undergarment. Son of a bitch.

"Thank you," Emily whispered, as Joe kissed the side of her head tenderly.

Tim kept his gaze on Joe who caressed Emily's back while she nestled against him. Joe looked up and gave Tim a slight smile, which made him almost dizzy with rage. The tension between them was palpable. Emily shivered violently, causing Joe to shift his gaze downward. "Are you okay, baby?"

"J-just cold."

Joe began rubbing his hands over her vigorously trying to warm her more quickly.

He can't even take care of her right. Tim stood and yanked another quilt from the shelf, spreading it over Emily.

She smiled up at him. "Thank you."

Tim nodded, not trusting himself to say anything, and sat back down.

OOO

Joe bundled Emily as tightly as he could, but her body was still shaking. Blankets were not going to warm her up.

Frank leaned over to him and whispered, "She needs skin to skin contact, but good luck trying that."

"I know, and I think I can manage. Block my view." Joe wasn't going to let her get hypothermic. And if Susan's Victorian moral code was violated because he was trying to prevent Emily from freezing to death…so be it.

Frank and Nancy moved forward a little, as Joe adjusted the blankets so they covered both him and Emily. He unbuttoned his shirt slowly, to avoid detection. Underneath the quilt, Joe pushed aside Emily's blankets and pulled her body against his bare chest. Then he readjusted them and tried to look inconspicuous.

OOO

Frank chuckled low, and Nancy bent her head down to hide her smile. "You want to try that?" Frank whispered. Because he definitely wanted to try that. Two days had been a long time for him and some skin to skin contact sounded damn good at the moment.

"Not on your life." Nancy smiled up at him. "But you wait, I have big plans for you, mister."

Frank raised his eyebrows. "Hmm, you've got my attention." He slid his hands unobtrusively under Nancy's blankets.

She gave a little gasp. "And you've got mine," she whispered, leaning into him.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: **Thank you Caranath, Jackie, zenfrodo, unobtrusive, leya, Vinsmouse and bhar for taking time to review! This chapter has Joe taking matters into his own hands with Susan and also carries a "high intensity fluff" warning. LOL Right back to the mystery in the next chapter though. Thanks again to those reading. Have a great weekend!

Chapter 23

Hours later, Joe slowly opened his eyes. He blinked, confused as to his whereabouts. He looked down and saw Emily snuggled into him, sleeping peacefully. Shifting his body slightly, he winced at how stiff he felt. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he realized they were all still in the storm cellar, and that the wind had finally stopped howling. _I guess the silence woke me up_.

He pressed his lips to Emily's forehead, relieved that she was no longer cold and shivering. Then he remembered she was also not wearing anything, except for a scrap of lace girls referred to as "panties". _Oh geez._

Joe groaned inwardly, suddenly feeling very warm. He looked around the room, trying to distract himself, and saw Frank and Nancy cuddled up together right next to him, also under a pile of blankets. Ed and Susan were leaning against each other on the far wall. Ed was still wearing his cowboy hat. And then there was Tim. Joe hadn't noticed he was awake until he felt his steady gaze resting on him.

"She okay?" Tim asked, motioning to Emily.

"Yeah, she's fine." Joe shifted his position again, pulling her closer to him.

Emily, still fast asleep, reached for Joe. The quilt slid off her arm, exposing her shoulder and part of her bare back. Tim's eyes narrowed and Joe brought the quilt over her again.

"Is it daytime yet?" Joe asked.

Tim looked at his watch, and then glanced over to the metal door, where the tiniest sliver of light was starting to shine through the cracks around it. "Near about. It's five o'clock." He gave Joe a smirk. "Time to be out doin' chores."

"Not until I take care of her."

"Why don't you go round up the horses?" Tim said. "I'll take care of her."

"Like hell you will."

Emily stirred in her sleep. "Joe?" she murmured drowsily.

"Right here, baby." He gently brushed her hair away from her face.

A tiny smile crossed Emily's lips, as she snuggled closer to him. "Mmm, love you," she sighed, before she drifted back to sleep.

"I love you, honey," he whispered.

Tim looked away, his jaw muscle twitching.

"Kind of tells you all you need to know, doesn't it?" Joe said.

"Why you son of a..." Tim started to lunge towards him, when Ed coughed from across the room.

"Mornin' boys."

Tim slowly sank back against the wall. "Mornin' Ed."

"Is she all right, Joe?" Ed wanted to know.

"Yeah, she's fine."

"Mmm, are we still in the cellar?" Nancy sat up, clutching her blanket close to her.

Frank chuckled as he opened his eyes. "Looks like it."

"Did the tornado cause any damage?" Nancy asked.

Ed shrugged. "Don't even know if it passed over our property." He stood up. "I guess we'd better go see."

Emily turned her gaze toward the crack in the storm cellar door as she awoke. "It looks like the sun is shining."

Ed helped his wife stand and she turned to the girls. "Why don't you come on in the house with me?"

_Here we go again, _Joe thought, fast growing weary of Susan's constant suspicion of illicit behavior. For someone who obviously didn't like sex, she sure thought about it a lot.

Nancy pulled her quilt tightly around her and stood up. "No, I think I'll just head back to the cabin. I still want to sleep for awhile."

"Oh, but..." Susan began.

"We're not awake yet, Aunt Susan." Emily yawned, as she and Joe rose to their feet, Joe hastily pulling his shirt closed. No need to give her one more reason to try and ship Emily off to a convent.

"Well, yes, honey," Susan walked over to the girls. "I just don't think you should go back to the cabin with the boys. They know you're...well, that you're..." She gestured to the blankets.

"Naked?" Nancy prompted.

Susan turned a brilliant shade of crimson. "I was going to put it more delicately than that," she whispered.

Joe sighed deeply, his frustration mounting. "Listen, Susan, I know you mean well, but really, the girls are safe with us. I'm so exhausted and filthy from the cattle drive that all I can think about is a shower and some sleep." He picked up his hat from the ground and put it on his head.

Susan looked doubtful. "It doesn't seem right," she murmured, biting her lip.

Joe put his hands on Emily's shoulders and walked her to the ladder. He was finished playing this game. "Look, you have my word. I will not try to seduce Emily into having sex with me when we get back to the cabin this morning. Okay?"

He watched as Frank and Nancy bent their heads down to hide their silent laughter while Susan's jaw dropped. Joe quickly climbed the ladder and flung open the door to the storm cellar. He reached down for Emily's hand and found her staring at him, her eyes wide with disbelief.

"That ought to make you happy, too," Joe added, with a glance in Tim's direction, as he helped Emily ascend into the fresh air and sunshine above.

Frank and Nancy emerged from the cellar, still choking back laughter, while Susan turned on her husband as soon as they stepped outside of the enclosure. "Did you hear what he just said to me?"

Ed laughed and adjusted his hat. "Darlin', you were askin' for it."

Joe chuckled at Ed's comment, while Emily pulled him aside. She didn't look amused. _Uh, oh. I hope I'm not in trouble._

"I can't believe you just said that to my aunt."

Joe grinned. "Why? Is it the first time she's ever heard the word 'sex?'"

A tiny smile turned up the corners of Emily's mouth and she swatted at him, loosening her quilt and exposing both shoulders. "You are so bad."

He scooped her up in his arms and kissed her cheek. "You'd better be careful with that quilt, baby. If it slips any more, I might not be able to keep that promise I just made."

She giggled, as Frank and Nancy came over to them. Frank shook his head. "You like to live dangerously, don't you Joe?"

Joe adjusted his girlfriend in his arms and grinned at him. "You're just chicken, Frank."

Ed, Susan and Tim stood nearby, surveying the farm. Susan sighed with relief. "It doesn't look like there's much damage at all."

"Nope." Ed straightened his hat. "Must've gone in a different direction. Those things can turn on a dime." He glanced at Tim. "I'll meet you in half an hour and we can check things out more thoroughly." He turned to Frank and Joe. "You two work on the case today. I'd like to get that taken care of, and having you do ranch chores all the time ain't gonna get it done."

Frank nodded. "We'll do that, sir."

Nancy reached for Frank's hand. "We're going to head over to the cabin now."

Joe thought Susan still seemed nervous as she surveyed the couples. He was pretty sure that any minute now she was going to whip out a white lace handkerchief, hold it up to her nose, and swoon.

"Don't worry, Aunt Susan," Emily said with a giggle. "I'm in good hands."

"Yes, you are." Joe couldn't help giving her a little poke in the ribs, which made Emily squeal.

"You are not inspiring her confidence," she whispered to him.

"She'll be fine, Susan, I promise." Joe gave her what he hoped was a sincere smile.

Susan sighed heavily. "Well, okay, I'll just be in the house if you need anything..."

Like a chastity belt, Joe thought, mentally finishing her sentence.

"Okay, goodbye," Emily called over Joe's shoulder as he turned to carry her away from the storm shelter.

Ed led Susan in the opposite direction, and Nancy hitched her quilt and blanket between her legs like a pair of shorts. She tilted her head as she looked at Frank. "Piggyback ride?"

He grinned. "You'd better hold that quilt around you tightly, because I'm going to run."

Nancy laughed, as Frank jogged off with her, zipping past Joe and Emily.

Joe noticed that Tim stood by the storm cellar door, staring after them, an unreadable expression on his face. He shrugged not wanting to waste one more second of his time on that jackass, and headed down the path holding Emily tightly in his arms.

OOOoooOOO

Joe burst through the cabin door, Emily still cradled close to him. "Thank heavens the storm didn't damage this place," he said.

"Yeah," Frank agreed, as he set Nancy down next to the fireplace. "Our sleepovers would have been over with, that's for sure." And that would have sucked…big time.

"They still might be." Emily smiled as Joe placed her on a bar stool. "Thanks to Mr. Big Mouth, here." She poked Joe in the stomach.

He waved his hand. "I'll win her over yet. And besides," he said with a grin. "Ed's on our side."

Frank chuckled. "For now, anyway." Until Susan got to him. He was already learning how quickly a woman could change a man's mind when she was determined. He smiled at his girlfriend.

Nancy adjusted her quilt as she moved over to the sofa and sat down. "So, what are our plans for the day?"

"First, a shower," Frank insisted. "Then a nap. Then we'll see."

Nancy laughed. "Does 'we'll see' include discussing this case?"

"Among other things." Frank raised his eyebrows. Like showering together, making love for hours, and then taking a long nap in front of a roaring fire in the bedroom fireplace.

"Hey, hey," Joe broke in. "No hanky-panky allowed."

Frank turned to him. "I didn't make any promises, Joe. You're on your own with that." _And good luck to you. _Frank knew that was one promise he personally wouldn't have been able to keep. Which was why he kept his mouth shut in front of Susan.

Emily giggled. "Okay, so after 'we'll see', then we work on the case?"

"Sounds like a plan," Frank said.

Nancy stood up. "All right, men. You have your marching orders. Hit the showers!"

"Alone?" Frank gave her a half smile.

"Alone." Nancy was firm. "You smell a little...um...well, like a cow."

"Oh yeah?" Frank grabbed her into him. "That didn't seem to bother you last night in the cold, dark cellar."

Nancy shrieked as Frank nuzzled her neck and tickled her ribs. "That was different." She pulled away and looked at him with a gleam in her eye. "And, if you want any 'we'll see', you'll get in that shower now, mister."

Emily turned to Joe. "Likewise."

"Moo," Joe teased as he lunged for her.

Emily squealed and ran for the bedroom. "Stay away from me," she cried, as Joe followed her in and shut the door.

Frank turned to Nancy and kissed her neck. "I'm now going to set the new world record time for a shower. Because I can't wait to get my hands on you."

OOOoooOOO

Joe grinned at Emily as he came out of the bathroom ten minutes later, still wearing his bath towel loosely around his hips. "Okay, I didn't shave, just like you asked."

"Good." She stepped over to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You look incredibly sexy right now."

"Yeah, well you'd better stop. I gave my word, remember?" Which he now regretted with every fiber of his being.

"_You_ did." Emily ran her hand through his still wet hair. "I didn't promise anything."

Joe raised his eyebrows. What exactly was that supposed to mean?

She leaned in and kissed his Adam's apple. "You could just lie perfectly still and let me–"

"Emily!" Joe interrupted in a strangled whisper. "Stop, baby." He took a deep breath. That statement had sent his body temperature rising. Among other things. "You're being bad, you know that?"

She giggled. "I missed you. After that fight in the barn, all I wanted to do was see you, and then..." her voice trailed off.

"Yeah, I know." Joe took her by the hand. Now he finally had the chance to set her straight on a few things. He led her over to the bed. "And I need to talk to you about that. Sit down, sweetheart."

She sat, looking at Joe expectantly.

"I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry for all of that." He grinned. "Well, I'm not sorry for slugging Tim. He deserved it."

Emily smiled.

"But honey, I need to talk to you about what he said. I don't want you to have the wrong impression." Joe looked at her earnestly. "I heard Tim ask you to marry him. I also heard him say that I told you I loved you but I wouldn't marry you."

"Joe," Emily began.

He held up his hand. He hoped he could make her understand. "No, Em. I need you to hear this. Honey, I want to marry you more than anything in the world. I can't stand that you might have thought differently over the past three days."

"You don't have to–"

"Emily, listen to me," Joe interrupted. "Baby, I want us together forever. You know that, right?"

She nodded silently.

"I also need to make sure I can take care of you." He bowed his head. "I can't do that right now, honey. Not until I'm done with school." He wished with all his heart it could be different. But right now, he didn't even have enough money saved to buy her a decent engagement ring.

"I know that, Joe," Emily told him. "Please don't worry about what Tim said."

Joe looked away for a minute. "I heard you hesitate, Em. When you answered him, I heard the catch in your voice. The doubt."

Emily reached out and touched his cheek. "Joe–"

"I don't ever, ever want you to doubt how much I love you again. I don't ever want you to think I don't want you for my wife." He looked into her eyes. "There's nothing I want more than that."

"Me either," she replied softly.

He tugged at the gold ring on his pinky finger. "This isn't a diamond, baby. It's a family ring. I want you to wear it."

He took her left hand and slipped it on her ring finger. "I promise I'll get you the diamond you deserve and I'll propose in the right way when the time is right. Will you wear this for now, though?"

Emily stared down at her hand, then up at Joe, her eyes glistening with tears.

"Yes," she whispered.

She reached for him, and he grabbed her tightly, holding her as close to him as he could. He brought his lips to hers and kissed her with an intensity that surprised even him.

"I love you, baby," he breathed.

She replied by kissing him deeply, then smiled and pushed him gently down on the pillows. She leaned over him, nuzzling his neck, moving her lips slowly down to his collarbone.

"Emily," he whispered raggedly. "Baby, please." She was driving him crazy. There was nothing he wanted more right now than to be with her…but he'd made a promise.

"Please what, Joe?" she teased, tugging on his towel.

He closed his eyes. "Em...honey..."

"It's okay, Joe." She ran her hand across his flat stomach and chest, caressing him lightly. He drew in a deep breath, his muscles tensing under her touch.

"Mmmmm," Emily bent her head, kissing his shoulder while still moving her hand slowly over his torso. "Don't worry, you're not breaking your promise."

He wasn't breaking his promise. Was that what she just said?

He stared up at her. Her smile was pure seduction as she slowly let the last blanket she'd had wrapped around her body, slide off her shoulders and down to her waist. All the breath left Joe's lungs and he was pretty sure his heart stopped beating, too. She was so beautiful.

She trailed her hand up to his hair, running her fingers through it, while dropping tiny little kisses all around his mouth. Straddling him, she rested her hands on his chest, then sat back and traced circles with her fingernails down to the edge of his towel and back. Joe closed his eyes and groaned as her feathery touch, so achingly close to where he really wanted it, teased him almost senseless.

Emily slid her hands up over his chest and down his arms. "I love touching you, Joe."

Her seductive murmur caused him to grit his teeth to prevent another groan from escaping as every muscle in his body tensed. He no longer cared about any promise. He just wanted her. More than he wanted to breathe at the moment. His hands lifted and circled her waist.

Emily wiggled out of his grasp. Joe opened his eyes and looked at her, questioningly. With a slight smile, she leaned down and kissed him, sliding her tongue into his mouth with a soft, tender sigh.

Joe knew he was a goner now as her long dark hair fell all around him and tickled his bare chest. As he inhaled her clean flowery scent, a sharp clench of desire clouded his mind. Thinking rationally was now something he was no longer capable of. His need for her was overpowering, and he slid his hands over her back, trying to pull her closer to him.

Breaking away, she held her mouth just above his. "You have to lie perfectly still, remember?" She lightly brushed her lips over his again.

"Baby," Joe said in a strangled voice. "Geez, Em..." His body was on fire, and he fisted his hands in the sheets to stop from himself from taking her.

"Sshhh," she whispered, touching her fingers to his lips. She dropped a line of kisses along the stubble of his jaw. "Let me show you how much I love you, Joe," she whispered, warm breath in his ear, as she reached behind her and loosened his towel.

He groaned and sank back into the pillows, savoring the sensations coursing through his body and she kissed him again, slowly, tenderly and with so much love it almost brought tears to his eyes.

He was in heaven.

And Emily was his angel.


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: **Thank you for your reviews, Caranath, zenfrodo, Kenna, unobtrusive, Vinsmouse and Jackie! Back to the mystery in this chapter...and Nancy starts to put her plan into action. Thanks for reading!

Chapter 24

Later that afternoon, Frank was seated on the couch while Nancy lay next to him, her head in his lap, ready to compare notes on the case. He moved his hand to his girlfriend's strawberry blonde hair and stroked it gently. He had missed her more than he thought he would over a two day separation. Much more.

His thoughts were interrupted as Joe bounced in from his bedroom holding Emily by the hand. He noted the twinkle in his brother's eye.

_Yeah, he kept his promise not to touch her…for about ten seconds. _Frank struggled to keep the smile off his face.

"What's up?" Joe asked as he walked over to the open kitchen and grabbed a soft drink from the refrigerator.

"Just comparing notes." Frank gestured to the oversized leather armchair. "Why don't you join us?"

"Sounds good. What have you got?"

"Okay," Frank began. "Here's what we learned on the cattle drive–"

"You don't want to ride behind the cows," Joe interrupted, taking a seat in the armchair.

Emily giggled. "You were at the rear of the drive?"

"Literally," Joe grimaced. He pulled Emily onto his lap. "Thanks to your jackass wanna-be boyfriend."

"I'm sorry," she said and smiled.

"Doesn't matter," Joe whispered. "I won. I've got you." He nuzzled her neck.

"All right, that's enough," Frank said, rolling his eyes. "Let's keep it in the bedroom, please."

He pretended to be irritated, but in reality, Frank was pleased. Joe's mood was at least one hundred percent better than it had been on the cattle drive. He also noticed that Emily was now sporting Joe's gold signet ring on her left hand. Frank was definitely going to be asking him about that later.

Joe grinned. "Sorry. What were you about to say?"

Frank smiled, shook his head, then continued. "Okay, we learned that a development company in California is trying to get the land that makes up Ed's and Pete's ranches to build a massive planned community. Think tract housing and strip malls."

Nancy nodded. "Interesting. I found a letter in Ed's file cabinet that he'd written to Randolph protesting the development deal and any change in zoning for the land around here."

"So Ed knows about this then?" Frank was thoughtful.

"And Pete Brookings probably does, too," Joe added. "Jamie brought up the letters they'd received from the development company on the drive."

Nancy's head shot up. "Jamie was on the drive?"

Uh, oh. Frank really wasn't in the mood to deal with this. How upset was Nancy going to be that he hadn't mentioned Jamie before?

"Yeah." Joe took a sip from his soda and grinned. "Going after Frank like a cat after a canary. Scared him to death."

"She did not," Frank protested. Great. Apparently his brother wasn't going to be any help at all.

"What? Go after you? Or scare you?" Joe's grin widened.

Frank sighed and looked at Nancy, who was now sitting up with her hands on her hips. "Oh, now don't you start. I reminded her I had a girlfriend and I wasn't the least bit interested."

"Didn't you at least use her infatuation to get information?"

"Nancy, this is Frank we're talking about," Joe said.

Nancy shook her head. "Then no, you didn't. I'm disappointed, babe."

"What?" Frank was incredulous. Wait a minute. Did she just say she was disappointed because he _hadn't_ flirted with Jamie? He shook his head. He was never going to understand women.

"You have to use that sort of thing when it presents itself," Nancy said, in a mock scolding tone.

"I tried, Nance." Joe shrugged. "He's hopeless."

"Now, wait a minute..." Frank began. Yes…it looked like he was going to have to defend himself for _not_ coming on to another girl.

Nancy sighed. "Didn't you find out anything from Jamie?"

"Only that she does recall seeing a proposal in her dad's office somewhere," Joe explained. "She wants Frank to come over and 'help her find it.'"

Frank looked sheepish, and Nancy chuckled. "That sounds good. I'm coming, too. You can't be alone with her."

"What?" Joe teased. "Don't you trust your paragon of virtue?"

"Frank, I trust," she said, giving him a squeeze. "Her, I don't."

"Oh, so you want me to flirt with her if other people are around, but not if I'm alone." Frank was not understanding the rules here. Maybe that was the point. It was how women kept men in the dark.

"Bingo." Nancy smiled and leaned in for a quick kiss.

"Um, anyway, back to the case," Joe said. "So, what's probably happening, is that Ed and Pete are against the proposal and someone is trying to intimidate them into changing their minds."

"Then why hasn't anyone been vandalizing Pete's ranch?" Emily spoke up.

"I've been thinking about that," Frank began. "I'm guessing that they're going after Ed first, because they think he's an easy mark. You've got to admit, Emily, your Aunt Susan can be a little...high-strung. This vandalism is really affecting her, and I think the perpetrator knows she'll cave first."

"So, then you're thinking Pete will follow?" Joe asked.

"Well, I'm thinking the opposition feels he'll be easier to convince once they get Ed to sell," Frank explained.

"Why do you think Randolph was murdered?" Emily asked him.

Frank sighed. "I'm not sure. Nan and I were talking earlier. There's a weird dichotomy going on here, Em. Someone obviously does want this deal to go through, so that's why the vandalism is happening."

"But there are also people who want the deal stopped." Nancy stood and began pacing. "And that's most likely why Randolph was murdered."

Joe's brow furrowed. "Two different perps?"

"It would seem so…on the surface." Frank tapped his notepad with his pen.

A worried look crossed Emily's face. "Then that means my Uncle Ed is on the suspect list."

Joe hugged her close. "Honey, don't worry. Right now, everyone is on the suspect list."

Frank didn't want to hurt Emily, but he wasn't going to sugarcoat the facts, even if Joe was. "It does mean that, Em. But something about that doesn't feel quite right to me. Ed wouldn't kill his own animals just because he wanted to sell his land, and he wouldn't murder Jim Randolph in a separate location, then drag the man's body to his own ranch. That would just be stupid. And your Uncle Ed is anything but stupid."

"I still think the best scenario is that someone is trying to frame your uncle, Emily." Nancy pursed her lips. "So what we really need to look for is someone who wants this land and also wants Ed to take the fall for some pretty serious crimes."

Emily sat silently, biting her lip. Frank knew she was worried.

"We're getting closer, Em. Whoever it is…they won't get away with it." He hoped he sounded reassuring, because he certainly didn't feel that way.

OOOoooOOO

Fifteen minutes later, Nancy cornered Emily in the kitchen of the cabin while she was getting more soft drinks from the refrigerator. "Okay, I think we can pull this off tonight."

"The visit to the bar? How?"

"I'm going to send Joe over to Jamie's house instead of me going, and while they're gone, you and I are going to head over to the 'Trail's End.'"

"You think that'll work?" Emily was still a little nervous about venturing there without Frank or Joe, but she had confidence that Nancy knew what she was doing.

Nancy nodded. "Yeah, I'll make up some excuse. In fact, I'll tell Frank that he'll probably get more cooperation from Jamie if I'm not there."

Emily tilted her head to one side. "Actually, that's probably true."

"Great." Nancy picked up two of the glasses that Emily had finished pouring. "As soon as the guys leave, we'll get ready." She started to turn away. "Do you have any prostitute clothes?"

Emily laughed. "I'll see what I can dig up."

OOOoooOOO

"Wow, Nancy must really trust you," Joe said, looking at Frank from the passenger seat of Ed's truck that evening. "Not that she has any reason not to."

Frank shifted gears as he picked up speed on the main road leading to the Brookings' ranch. "You're right. She can trust me. And I think she's right about something else. Jamie will be more likely to talk to us without Nancy around."

"Yeah. Especially if she thinks the more information she gives, the 'friendlier' you'll get," Joe said with a grin. "You need to act like you want to be friendly." And it was so against Frank's nature to flirt with another girl while he was in a relationship, that Joe couldn't wait to see him try.

"I've already told her I have a girlfriend."

"It won't hurt you to flirt a little bit. Geez, Frank, Nancy gave you permission back there in the cabin." Surely that would make it easier.

"If I think I need to flirt, I will. I'm hoping it won't come to that."

"I'm hoping you actually know how to do it," Joe said, shaking his head.

OOOoooOOO

"That looks great!" Nancy told Emily as she surveyed her short, leather skirt and white blouse.

Emily rolled her eyes as she struggled to button the front of the shirt Nancy loaned her. She paused to catch her breath. "I don't think I can get this button closed."

"Of course not." Nancy's tone was matter-of-fact. "You're stacked and I'm not."

Emily gave her a look and tried again.

Nancy waved her hand. "Just leave it undone. It's sexier like that anyhow."

Emily bit her lower lip. "Isn't it a bit...much?" Her cleavage was definitely on display. She didn't mind wearing sexy underwear…actually she loved it. But ordinarily she didn't want to look like she was offering everything she had to the highest bidder.

"You're a hooker, Emily. How can it be too much?" Nancy adjusted the tiny denim shorts she'd put on to show off her long, shapely legs. She clapped her hands together and smiled. "You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be." Emily rolled her eyes. This was going to be interesting. But not as interesting as Joe's reaction was going to be once he found out. She cringed inwardly. Explosive wouldn't even begin to describe it.

"Just be sure you ask people questions about Randolph. Not enough to arouse suspicion. Just like you're curious. Like he was one of your clients," Nancy instructed.

"I'll do my best." Emily grabbed her purse and headed for the door of the cabin. "I only hope it's good enough. Oh, and that we don't get assaulted. That would really put a damper on the evening."

OOOoooOOO

Joe shut the door of the pickup truck and looked around the Brookings' front yard. The farmhouse appeared to be at least a hundred years old, and although some of the yellow paint was faded in spots, it was still warm and welcoming. The front porch was wide, extending completely across the front of the house, with several large two-seated, white, wooden rockers being the focal point. Hanging baskets, filled with red geraniums, brought spots of vivid color just above the white wooden railing.

Joe headed up the wide steps with Frank close behind him, and paused to knock on the screen door.

"Come on in," Jamie's voice called from the back of the house, and Joe opened the door.

"After you," he gestured to Frank with a grin.

Frank rolled his eyes as he stepped into the old-fashioned parlor. Jamie approached them from the rear of the house, drying her hands on a flour-sack dish towel.

"Well howdy, good to have you here." She took Frank's arm with a smile and led him down a hallway to the left of the parlor.

"Yeah, it's great to be here," Joe said, trailing after them. "Nice of you to ask us. Both." Oh, man, was he going to enjoy this.

"This here's my daddy's office," Jamie continued, ignoring Joe. "He's down at the barn, but he won't mind you looking through his stuff. I already told him you'd be here tonight."

"Did you find the papers from the development company?" Frank asked.

"Oh, yeah." Jamie set down her dishtowel and shuffled through a pile of correspondence on the desk. "Right here." She handed them to him.

"Can I get you all something to eat? I just took some brownies out of the oven a little while ago. And they're mighty good, if I do say so myself."

"No, no, thanks. I'm fine," Frank gestured absently as he sat in the large oak chair behind the desk and began reading the papers.

Oh, geez, Frank had already boarded the train to Cluelessville. Joe cleared his throat and turned to smile at her. "Um, actually Jamie, what my brother meant to say was that we would both love some. I'm sure they're delicious."

Jamie grinned happily. "Great. I'll be right back, then." She bounced down the hallway, leaving Frank and Joe alone in the office.

Joe sighed and walked over to the desk. He slapped Frank lightly upside the back of his head.

"Ow! What'd you do that for?"

"Hello?" Joe stared at him. "This would be the time to turn on the charm, dork." He was actually going to have to coach him through this.

"What?"

"Give her a little sugar, Frank. We need more information than what you're reading on that paper." Joe crossed his arms in front of him. "And she obviously prefers you to me. So get with the program."

Frank sighed. "Fine. I'll flirt."

"Good. I'm anxious to see it." He grinned. "And I'm sure Nancy will be even more anxious to hear about it." And Joe couldn't wait to tell her.


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: **Thanks for the feedback, Caranath, unobtrusive, Maddi, zenfrodo, Vinsmouse, Jackie and Leya! It's very much appreciated. Now onto Jamie's house and the bar. Thank you for reading!

Chapter 25

Emily swallowed hard as she and Nancy exited the sedan they'd borrowed from the ranch and stood in front of the Trail's End bar. It was a one story building with a good twenty years worth of dust and grime coating the bricks. The two windows in front were covered with curtains from the inside and Emily could see the stains on them from across the parking lot.

A cowboy, clearly intoxicated, stumbled out the front door. He squinted when he saw the girls, and a wide, near toothless grin, spread across his face. He staggered toward them.

"Oh geez, I can smell him from here," Emily hissed. She was definitely having second thoughts. This place looked scary.

"Howdy, little ladies. In the mood for some fun?"

He lurched toward them and the girls sidestepped him easily.

"Where'd you go?" He stared off into the dusty parking lot.

"For crying out loud," Nancy muttered. "This should be a piece of cake if they're all that stupid drunk." She took Emily by the arm and marched toward the entrance of the bar.

OOOoooOOO

"Here you go," Jamie said with a smile as she entered the office. "Warm brownies and some cold, farm-fresh milk to go with them.

Frank gave her a dazzling smile as he helped her with the tray she was carrying. "Wow, these look great, Jamie."

She beamed as she handed him a plate and a cold glass of milk. Frank took a big bite of the brownie and moaned. "These are so good. You're a terrific cook."

Jamie blushed and leaned forward, wiping a few crumbs off his face with a napkin. "All of us ranch girls are good cooks. We have to be. No restaurants for miles."

Joe sat in a chair across the room surveying the scene. He stifled a laugh at Frank's display and rolled his eyes at Jamie's. Finally he cleared his throat and stood. "You mind if I have one?"

Jamie's gaze never left Frank. "Help yourself."

Joe shook his head in disbelief and walked over to the desk. Reaching for a brownie, he glanced down at the paper Frank had been studying earlier. "So, this development firm is from California?"

"What?" Jamie turned to look at Joe.

"The development firm? The one that wants to buy up the ranches?"

"Oh, yeah, I guess so. I didn't really notice." She turned around to face Frank again.

Frank picked up the paper, still smiling at Jamie, and resumed reading. He set his brownie on a plate and feigned a look of concern. "Jamie, I'm so sorry this is happening. It must be terribly distressing for you."

Joe gave him an incredulous look. Did he just say "distressing?"

Frank cleared his throat and continued. "I mean, it must be really frightening to think someone wants to come along and take your land." He patted her arm awkwardly.

Joe rolled his eyes.

"Oh," Jamie began. "Yes. It's been very...distressing." She bent her head down. "I just don't know what Daddy and I are going to do."

Frank rubbed her shoulder. "Hey, it's okay. Joe and I are here to help."

Joe coughed to cover up his laughter.

Jamie looked up at Frank, two giant tears glistening in the corners of her eyes. Okay, now those were fake. Even Joe could tell that.

"Do you think you could help us?" Jamie asked. "I mean, I know you're supposed to be working at Ed's place, but I...I really need you, Frank."

What the hell was this? A scene from _Search for Tomorrow_? Joe shook his head. And the award for best performance by a dramatic female lead goes to...Jamie Brookings.

Frank was apparently trying to look sincere and concerned. Joe thought he looked constipated.

"Of course," Frank began. "I've grown quite fond of you, Jamie. It's painful for me to think anyone might want to hurt you."

Joe began choking in earnest.

"Oh, thank you so much." Jamie flung her arms around Frank. "You can't possibly know what this means to me."

Frank stroked her hair in what Joe felt was an attempt on Frank's part to be soothing. He looked like he was petting a golden retriever.

Joe coughed again and Frank glared over Jamie's shoulder at him. Joe downed his glass of milk and Frank's, in an attempt to dislodge the brownie now stuck in his throat.

"I think we'd better be going," Frank said, as he struggled to extricate himself from Jamie's grasp. "Would you mind if we kept this letter?"

"Not at all." Jamie's eyes were shining as she stared up at him.

"Yeah," Joe coughed. "We have to get back to the ranch." _Because I have to tell the girls about this. They are going to die laughing._

"If you think of anything else you might need," Frank said, as he deftly disengaged himself and walked to the study door, "you let me know."

"Anything at all," Joe added with a grin as he followed his brother.

"Oh, I will," she purred seductively.

OOOoooOOO

Nancy and Emily stepped warily through the front door of the Trail's End bar and paused a moment to allow their eyes to adjust to the darkness.

The bar took up one entire side of the room. A mirror behind it reflected the only real lighting in the establishment…a few ceiling lamps that hung directly over the bar itself.

The other side of the room was lined with booths and small tables. Cowboys and a few women were seated around, drinking, laughing and groping each other. The muted tones of conversation came to a halt when they noticed the girls standing in the entrance.

"Come with me," Nancy whispered, as she headed for the bar. She ignored the wolf whistles that followed them and slid onto a stool. Emily sat next to her and Nancy thought she looked pretty close to terrified.

A grizzled looking cowboy approached them from behind the counter. "Whaddaya havin'?"

"Whiskey, neat," Nancy said.

He raised an eyebrow as he turned to Emily. "And you?"

"Rum and Coke," she managed.

He nodded and turned to fix their drinks.

"Whiskey?" Emily hissed.

Nancy shrugged, thinking a glass of liquid courage was exactly what she needed right now. "How bad can it be?"

The bartender set their drinks down in front of them. Nancy eyed the shot glass warily. Then with resolve, she picked it up and tossed the whiskey down her throat. She willed herself not to gasp at the burning sensation and forced down the desire to cough as well. She stared back at the bartender with watery eyes. "Thanks."

He grinned at her. "You two are new around here."

Nancy cleared her throat. "Yes. A good friend of ours is supposed to meet us here. Jim Randolph. Have you seen him?"

The bartender's eyes darkened. "What do you know about Jim Randolph?"

Nancy feigned innocence. "Just that he's a nice guy. We met him in Tulsa. He has a real important job with the county. He goes there to file papers every so often, and when he does, he makes sure to stop by our...regular establishment." Nancy hoped her smile was seductive. "He mentioned there was lots of work in this neck of the woods and suggested we pay you all a little visit sometime."

The bartender appeared to relax. "I see. When was the last time you saw Jim?"

"Oh, I don't know." She glanced at Emily. "What was it? Maybe two or three weeks ago?"

Emily nodded, sipping her drink.

"Well then, I hate to be the one to tell you this," the bartender began. "But Jim Randolph's dead."

"Dead?" Nancy forced her eyes to widen, and she noted that Emily was trying her best to appear shocked as well.

"Murdered, actually," the bartender said slowly.

He was watching for their reaction, Nancy thought.

"But, but who would want to kill Jim?" Nancy sputtered. "He's so nice."

"He couldn't have been murdered," Emily added. "Are you sure there wasn't some mistake?"

"Hard to mistake a gunshot to the back of the head, Miss." The bartender leaned toward them. "But just because Jim ain't here no more, doesn't mean you two should stop having fun."

Nancy saw Emily stiffen as a cowboy rested his hand on her back. He had a leering smile under his moustache, and his eyes were raking over Emily.

"How 'bout a dance, little lady?"

OOOoooOOO

"What the hell was that?" Joe asked Frank as they climbed back into the pickup truck and prepared to leave Jamie's house.

"What the hell was what?" Frank turned the key in the ignition and headed down the gravel driveway.

"That. In there." Joe gestured back toward the farmhouse.

"You told me to flirt."

"_That_ was flirting? That was not flirting, Frank." He sat back in his seat. "'It must be terribly distressing?' 'I've grown quite fond of you?' I felt like I was watching an episode of _Masterpiece Theatre_."

"It's hard for me to fake it," Frank said. "I'm not like you."

"Meaning what?" Joe was gearing up for what he thought sounded like an insult coming his way.

"I can't pretend I want to get in the pants of every girl who looks at me."

"I don't do that." Did Frank really think that was the way he acted? Was that the way he came across?

He looked at Joe. "No, not anymore. Not since Emily."

Joe sighed. Okay, maybe he had been a little bit that way…in high school. He would let it slide. "Frank, you're a detective. Deception is part of our job. Well, bluffing is anyway."

Frank grinned at him. "Then I'd say it's a good thing we're partners. Because that is going to be your job."

"As far as women are concerned, it's going to have to be." Joe turned to him with an incredulous look. "'I've grown quite_ fond_ of you?'"

OOOoooOOO

Emily gulped as her gaze moved from the cowboy's face to where his meaty hand was resting on her arm. "I don't dance."

"Oh, want to move right along then? No preliminaries?" He grinned at her. "Fine with me. Let's just mosey on to the back room."

Emily tried to keep her breathing even as she measured the distance between her and the front door of the bar. This was getting too scary. And this guy was too big for her to fight off.

Nancy glared at the cowboy. "Would you leave us alone please? We've just heard some terrible news about a friend of ours. We're not interested in fun right now."

"And what friend would that be?" The cowboy took a seat next to Emily, still gripping her arm.

"They know Jim Randolph, Earl." The bartender handed him a beer.

"Really now?"

"Yes, and we've just now heard about his...unfortunate accident," Nancy said. "So I'm sure you can understand that we're very upset."

The cowboy laughed. "Imagine two gorgeous women like you, upset over a squirrelly guy like Randolph. That's a good one."

_He's not buying it, _Emily thought. _We are in serious trouble. _She hoped Nancy had a plan, because she sure didn't.

"It's true," Nancy insisted. "He was a nice guy. The last time he was in Tulsa, he mentioned some land deal he was working on. He seemed worried, too. Do you think someone killed him over that?"

The bartender reached for a whiskey bottle and shrugged. "How would I know?"

"Well, Jim mentioned that people here are opposed to development, and that folks would be mad if he pushed this project through." Nancy looked up at him.

The bartender frowned. "Honey, I don't know what your story is, but Jim Randolph wasn't trying to push a development deal through. He was trying to stop it."

"Stop it?" Nancy took a tiny sip of the second shot the bartender put in front of her and swallowed hard. "But he had these letters. He said he was mailing them to the ranchers. They talked about some company buying up the land around here."

The bartender waved his hand. "Those don't mean nothin'. He has to send 'em out whenever a proposal comes through the county. It's the law. It don't mean he's in favor of whatever they're proposin'. I get 'em all the time here, and there ain't no way Randolph was in favor of closin' down this place."

The other cowboy at the bar guffawed into his beer. "Ain't that the truth?"

"So the letters didn't mean he was trying to push a development deal through?" Emily asked as she glanced at Nancy out of the corner of her eye. Even she knew this information changed everything about the case.

The bartender's eyes narrowed. "Just who are you two anyway? Really?"

Nancy's spine stiffened. "I told you who we are. Working girls from Tulsa."

Emily swallowed hard. These guys were definitely suspicious.

"Oh, yeah?" the cowboy chimed in. "Well, if you're here to work, let's get going. Right, Lou?" He grinned at the bartender.

"Right, Earl." He handed him a token from behind the bar. "Go ahead and start up the jukebox."

The cowboy stood and grabbed Emily roughly. "Come on, sweetheart. You and me are going to dance."

"Get your hands off me!" Emily shouted. She tried to push him away, but it didn't do any good. He was far stronger than she was. Her stomach dropped to her feet. How on earth was she going to get out of this?

"Oh no, honey." He glared at her. "You said you're a working girl. Now, I'm pretty sure I don't believe you, but that's just going to make it all the more fun."

"Leave her alone!" Nancy stood from her barstool and marched over to cowboy, shoving him hard.

"You stay out of this, Missy," he growled. Then he looked toward a door leading to a back area of the bar. "Hey, Roger. Come on out here. I got a gorgeous babe just waitin' for ya!"

Emily turned to Nancy. What were they going to do? Nancy couldn't help her. The both of them were no match for a bar full of men looking for a good time.

"Don't worry," Nancy whispered. She quickly grabbed onto Emily's other arm to tug her away from the cowboy, but that proved to be impossible.

"I told you to stay out of this. She's mine for the night." The cowboy's eyes raked over Emily. "Aren't you, baby?" He whistled low. "Damn, you're a looker."

"I'll get help, Em. Hang on," Nancy hissed.

Emily tried to stay calm. Nancy would get help. She had to. Now, if she could just hold this cowboy off until help arrived. She dared a look into his eyes and saw the lust burning there as he stared at her cleavage. _Oh, Nancy, hurry!_

OOO

Nancy ducked away from the cowboy who had Emily and ran. She flew out the front door to the edge of the parking lot and straight to a payphone positioned under a nearby streetlight. Dropping in some coins, she waited for the operator. "Fairchild ranch", she said into the receiver. "Please, it's an emergency."


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews, Caranath, zenfrodo, unobtrusive, Jackie, Maddi, bhar and Vinsmouse! They are truly appreciated. And a special shout out to my beta, Kenna, for all her help with this chapter! :) Now onto the mayhem. Thanks to those who are reading!

Chapter 26

Frank and Joe pulled into Ed's driveway and almost into Jake, who was flying by them in another pickup. He skidded to a stop, spraying gravel, and rolled down his window. "Frank? Joe?"

Frank leaned out his window. "What's the matter?"

"The girls are in trouble. They're at the Trail's End. Investigating or something."

"We'll follow you." Frank couldn't believe it. Nancy had actually gone and done it. The stupidest thing he could possibly imagine. Damn it!

Jake pulled out onto the road and picked up speed, and Frank stayed right on his tail.

"What does he mean?" Joe demanded. "The Trail's End? Isn't that the bar where Randolph used to hang out?"

Frank nodded. Joe was going to be livid and there wasn't any way to mollify him. Hell, he was livid himself. "Yeah. I should have known Nancy might try something like this."

"What?"

Frank could feel his brother's anger. "Joe, before we left on the drive, I told her she'd better not even be thinking about coming to this bar, that it was too dangerous. But you know Nancy."

"Frank, Emily is not a detective. She doesn't know the first thing about undercover work." He slammed his hand against the dashboard. "Damn it, why would Nancy bring her there?"

Frank shook his head. "I don't know. She obviously feels she has something to prove out here since the cowboys don't take her seriously."

"Yeah, well apparently they don't take her seriously for a damn good reason."

Frank drove in agonizing silence for the next fifteen minutes before Jake made a sharp turn into the parking lot of the bar and leapt out of his vehicle. Frank pulled up next to him. Joe's feet were on the ground before the engine was off.

"Joe, wait! We need to go in together."

"Then you'd better hurry the hell up, because I'm not waiting for you."

Frank ran after his brother who had almost reached the door to the bar. The place looked like a dump. He heard loud music and raucous laughter coming from the inside. That couldn't be good. A woman's scream tore through the air. Nancy! Frank pushed past Joe and shoved his way inside.

OOOoooOOO

Nancy was really starting to get worried. The cowboy who had Emily took her into what Nancy thought was the game room, and as hard as she tried, she couldn't get to her. As soon as Nancy had made the phone call to the ranch for help, she'd hurried back into the bar…only to be met by a wall of men eager to sample the new meat in town.

Nancy had a few tricks up her sleeve and managed to fend off a couple of them, but the laws of physics were against her. They were all much bigger and stronger, and none of her defense training was a match for that.

"Hey, little lady, for a working girl, you ain't too friendly." A cowboy with tobacco stained teeth was attempting to get her to dance with him. Nancy was resisting as hard as she could, while still trying to make it across the bar to where she thought Emily had been taken.

"Get your hands off me!" She shoved him hard and tried to open her purse, which contained a can of mace she'd managed to talk Chief McGinnis in River Heights into allowing her to carry.

Unfortunately, it looked like the cowboy who'd been trying to sweet talk her was now finished playing games. He grabbed her arm and held it so tightly she knew he was bruising her.

"Apparently you ain't gettin' the message, sweetheart. This twenty dollars here is my down payment for the evenin's activities. I expect a little more cooperation."

He hauled her against him and she recoiled from the smell of his breath on her face. "Now out here, we expect our workin' ladies to put out. I'm pretty sure that's what they expect in the big city, too. So let's get down to business."

He yanked her purse out of her hand, breaking the strap, and tossing it over his shoulder. Nancy watched as it…and her can of mace…skittered across the floor, completely out of reach.

As she looked into the cowboy's eyes, Nancy knew fear like she'd never known before. He was going to rape her. And she was completely defenseless.

She glanced around the bar, panicked. None of the other patrons seemed to even notice. And those who did see her, didn't care.

"I think we need to be movin' our little party to somewhere more private." The cowboy picked Nancy up and threw her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. She pummeled his back with her fists, but he didn't even flinch.

"Oooh, very nice." As he ran his hand up and down the backs of her bare legs and over her bottom, Nancy felt the bile rising in her throat.

"Put me down!"

The man started walking across the room to the door. Nancy knew if they left this bar, she would be raped for sure. She did the only thing she could think of. She screamed.

OOO

Frank Hardy did not reach his boiling point quickly, but when he did, everyone had better get out of his way. He reached it as soon as he barged through the entrance of the bar and saw his girlfriend being manhandled by some low life cowboy, who'd clearly thought he'd won himself quite the prize.

"Put her down, you son of a bitch!"

The main room of the bar went quiet and all eyes turned to stare at Frank.

The cowboy turned, a sneer on his face. "You talkin' to me, son?"

"Damn right I'm talking to you. Put her down." Frank strode across the room, his eyes fixed on the man.

The cowboy hefted Nancy over him more securely. "Now you give me one good reason why I should."

"Because if you don't, I swear I'll kill you." Frank's voice was deadly calm and he saw the cowboy flinch.

"What the hell do you care what I do with some two bit whore?"

Frank's vision swam at those words and he lunged for the man. Nancy was dropped to the ground roughly, as the cowboy released her to defend himself against the onslaught of Frank's blows.

OOO

Nancy scrambled to get out of the way and felt another man's hands around her waist. She recoiled until she heard Jake's voice. "Honey, it's me."

She allowed Jake to help her to her feet and put his arm around her. "You okay?"

Her legs were rubber and she felt like she could hardly stand. She knew Jake was talking, she could see his mouth moving, but she had no idea what he was saying.

"Nancy, are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

Looking into Jake's eyes jarred her back into reality. "Yes. I'm fine." She pushed him to the side. "Frank needs help. And where's Em?"

"Em?"

"They took her into the game room." Nancy felt the panic rising in her throat. "Jake, they're going to hurt her!"

"Joe went back there," Jake explained. " Let me take care of these losers and then we'll go help him. Everybody's so damn crocked in here it shouldn't take long. You stay put."

He took her by the arm and sat her on a bar stool. "Don't move."

OOO

Joe hadn't paused after he'd burst through the front door of the bar behind Frank. His focus was on Emily. He'd scanned the faces of the patrons, seated in the dim light, hoping against hope that she would be among them. He saw Nancy in the arms of some cowboy, but Emily was nowhere in sight.

Fear gnawed at his stomach, twisting it into spasms that grew more intense with each second that passed. Damn it, where was she?

He heard a commotion in the rear of the bar, and a cry of fright he knew belonged to his girlfriend. He shoved pass the patrons and rushed through the swinging door of what turned out to be a game room.

Emily had been pushed backwards onto the pool table and was surrounded by three men. One of them had her arms pinned up over her head, and another was almost lying on top of her, his hand under her blouse. She was twisting her head from side to side to avoid the man's advances as he tried to kiss her. "No!" she shouted. "Get off me!"

Rage blazed through Joe white-hot, while his blood thrummed through his ears, blocking out all sound around him. He strode over to the pool table and seized the guy who had his hands on Emily by the collar, throwing him backwards. The man staggered for a few steps, and Joe could tell he was drunk.

"Why you little..." He charged at Joe, who sidestepped him easily, then took the man's arm and twisted it behind his back.

"You stay the hell away from her," Joe seethed between gritted teeth. "She's mine." He shoved the man forward, collapsing him onto the pool table.

The cowboy regained his footing and came at Joe, fists clenched and ready to swing. Joe punched him in the nose, hard, and with the crunching sound of breaking bone, the man crumpled to the floor in agony.

Joe eyes locked onto the other two men standing there. One of them appeared ready to challenge him, but backed away when Joe stared him down.

"You already pay for her?" another man called out from across the room.

"What?" Joe bristled at the comment.

He nodded his head toward Emily who stood up and was moving behind Joe, her eyes wide with fear, as she attempted to adjust her torn shirt.

"I said," the man repeated more slowly, coming toward Joe, a confrontational look on his face. "Did you pay for her? Cause if you didn't son, then you ain't got no claim."

It suddenly dawned on Joe what Nancy's scheme for getting information had been. He let out a slow deep breath and turned to Emily, who was visibly trembling and staring at the floor. Joe grabbed her by the arm. "Hey! Didn't I just give you a hundred dollars in the parking lot?"

"Yes," she whispered softly, not meeting his gaze.

"Then I'm going to damn well get what I paid for."

Joe turned to stare at the cowboys in the room as he hauled Emily up against him. "You can't have her, she belongs to me."

He ran his hand up through Emily's hair and held it, tilting her head backwards, then crushed his lips to hers. But this wasn't his usual kiss, filled with emotion and tenderness for the woman he loved. This kiss was rough, raw and aggressive.

Joe walked forward, taking her with him, as far away from those bastards as he could get her.

He backed her against the wall, still kissing her. He could feel the men's eyes boring into the back of his head, and knew he was on thin ice. These guys wanted Emily bad…and he had counted at least twenty men in this room alone. More than he and Frank would be able to fight off by themselves, even if the cowboys were drunk. He figured some of them were also armed. And drunk and armed didn't usually go well together.

He knew they would let this go for now if they thought Joe had already paid Emily for her services. Some ridiculously warped sense of honor they had. Time to make it look good, then get his girlfriend the hell out of here.

Grabbing her by the thigh with his free hand, he pulled her leg up along side of his, sliding his hand underneath her mini-skirt and holding her there. He tore his mouth away from hers and heard a gasp escape from Emily's throat. "Shhh," he whispered, as he brought his lips onto her neck. "We need to make them think you're giving me what I paid for."

He kissed her there, then moved his mouth down to the low cut opening of her blouse. Joe pressed his lips to the top of her breast, knowing full well the men were still watching him, as he breathed heavily against Emily's soft skin. He lifted his lips back up to hers again in a kiss that was hot, open mouthed and completely carnal.

Letting go of her thigh, he allowed his hand to slide up her waist, barely cupping her breast as he moved it around to her back. He tore his lips away from hers, and announced in between ragged breaths, "We're going to go finish this in private."

Joe kept his arm firmly around her waist and dragged her out of the game room and past Nancy, Frank and Jake, who were finishing up a fight with a couple of cowboys in the front room, without a backward glance.

He could feel the eyes of several cowboys who'd followed him to the door, staring after them. Pulling Emily roughly to the sedan, he opened the back door, gave her a little push inside, then entered himself, shutting the door behind him and locking it.

"Oh, Joe," Emily cried, bursting into tears and crawling into his lap.

"Ssshhh, baby." He held her tightly against him, his voice once more soft and tender.

"I'm s-sorry," she choked out.

"No, honey," Joe kissed her tear-streaked face. "This was not your fault."

OOO

A key turned in the front door of the vehicle and Emily saw Frank and Nancy quickly get in. Frank started the engine and peeled out of the parking lot. He glanced in the rearview mirror. "Is she okay?"

Joe didn't answer immediately. Emily could see that his face was hard, and anger flashed in his eyes.

"Emily?" Nancy turned around. "Are you okay?"

She was about to answer when Joe spoke up.

"Yes. No thanks to you."

"Joe," Frank warned.

"What the hell were you thinking, Nancy?" Joe's face was twisted with rage.

Emily cringed. This was going to be bad.

"Joe, I went to get help. Those guys were going to..." Nancy's voice trailed off. "I came back inside but I couldn't stop them by myself. I swear I tried as hard as I could to get to her."

"So you left Emily in there alone? To try and fend off three men who wanted to rape her?" Joe was shouting, and his normally light colored eyes were dark and intense.

"I'm sorry, Em." Nancy's voice was sincere. "I never meant for anything bad to happen. I came back inside right after I called the ranch. I tried to get to the back room, but this idiot cowboy grabbed me and I couldn't get away from him."

Emily, curled up in Joe's lap with her head resting on his chest, nodded mutely. She couldn't talk right now. She couldn't stop shaking. Everything felt like it was crashing down on her as the reality of the situation they'd been in struck her hard. She'd been minutes away from being raped. If Joe hadn't gotten there…

Nancy reached backwards with her hand to try and touch Emily, but Joe pushed it away.

"Not good enough, Nancy," he told her, his voice still raw with emotion. "You put her in a situation where the only outcome was going to be violence. And then you left her there."

"Joe, I told you..." Nancy's voice rose also.

"I don't care what you told me!" His angry shout overpowered Nancy.

Frank slammed on the brakes and turned around to glare at his brother. "I have heard just about all I am going to take from you tonight. Now I understand you're upset. And I don't blame you. But I will not let you talk to Nancy like that for one more second." His eyes were cold and hard. "You got it?"

"Fine," Joe shouted. "Then I'll talk to you. Why the hell didn't you tell me Nancy might be thinking of doing this, Frank? Why would you–?"

"Stop it!" Emily cried out. "Please, please stop screaming at each other."

Emily couldn't stand it anymore. Her nerves were frayed. She felt like she was barely holding it together at the moment, and the shouting was only making things worse. She would straighten Joe out and let him know this wasn't Nancy's fault. That she wanted to go help and be an actual part of this investigation. That she wanted to do something besides hang out at the ranch and cook all day. She just needed a few minutes to pull herself together.

Everyone was staring at her.

Emily swallowed hard in an effort to maintain her composure. "Please don't yell anymore. Please."

Nancy sighed, and faced forward in the passenger seat, staring dully out the front window. Frank turned back to the steering wheel and pulled the car back out onto the dirt road. And Emily sunk more deeply into Joe's embrace as he held her tightly against him, pressing his lips against her forehead. She wasn't fooled. Joe was angrier than she'd ever seen him before and she was terrified that her and Nancy's misguided attempt to get information would prove to be something he wouldn't be able to forgive.


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: **Thank you for the wonderful feedback, zenfrodo, Caranath, Leya, Jackie, Vinsmouse, bhar, Kenna, unobtrusive and Maddi! I loved reading what you had to say. Emotions are still running high in this chapter. Thanks for taking time to read!

Chapter 27

Frank parked the truck around the back side of the main house, then turned around to talk to his brother as he pulled the key out of the ignition.

"Joe," Frank began.

"Save it." Joe's voice was cold as he helped Emily out of the pickup and pulled her close to him. He slammed the door and began walking with his arm around her tightly, down the path to the cabin.

Nancy scrambled out of the passenger seat. "Emily!"

Emily turned to look back at Nancy, but Joe kept her moving forward.

Nancy flung her door shut, as Frank came over to her. "He's being unreasonable, Frank. Why won't he let me talk to her?"

"Give him some time. He takes awhile to cool off." Frank ran his hand through his hair. This whole situation was a mess, and he knew Joe wasn't going to cool off anytime soon. But Nancy didn't need to know that right now. She was upset enough already. "Maybe by morning."

Nancy hands fell helplessly to her sides. "I need to talk to her. I _never _intended for any of this to happen. Joe's acting like I did it on purpose. Like I wanted her to be..." Nancy began sobbing. "Oh Frank, what if Joe hadn't gotten in there in time? What if...?"

"Ssshhh," Frank pulled Nancy into his arms. "Honey, I know this didn't work out the way you wanted it to. Nobody thinks you meant to hurt Emily."

He tightened his hold on her and stroked her hair. Nancy was only worried about Emily, but Frank still couldn't get the image of walking into the bar and seeing that jackass with his hands all over Nancy's legs and rear end out of his head. He should have killed him. It would have been worth it.

Nancy was crying in big gulping sobs. "I'm so sorry. I have to make her understand how sorry I am."

"She knows, baby. I don't think she's angry at you." He bent down and kissed the top of her head. "And she's safe. She wasn't hurt."

He leaned her back slightly and brushed away a tear on her cheek with his thumb. "And I will deal with Joe. Okay?"

Nancy nodded.

Frank sighed inwardly. He'd been so angry with her on the way home that he couldn't even speak for fear of what he might say. But now her crying was tearing him apart. He was just happy she was safe. He would have a talk with her about putting her life at risk unnecessarily just so she could prove a point…but that could wait. Right now he just wanted to hold her.

And try to slow his heart rate down to less than two hundred beats per minute.

He slipped his finger under Nancy's chin and tilted her head up so he could look in her eyes. "You'll see. Everything's going to be all right. Try not to worry anymore. Okay?"

"Okay." Nancy sniffled. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, baby."

Nancy squeezed him hard. "I love you."

Frank kissed her forehead. "I love you, too."

OOOoooOOO

Joe unlocked the cabin door and led Emily inside. She shivered slightly, and he ran his hand up and down her arm. "You okay?"

She nodded at him.

"Are you hungry? I'll get us something to eat."

"No. I really just want to take a shower right now."

Joe could tell she was absolutely exhausted from everything that had happened tonight, but she was trying to be brave. He wanted nothing more than to go back to that bar and put every single one of those guys that had even dared to look at her in the hospital…or worse. He couldn't though. Emily needed him and she came first.

"Okay, honey." Joe led her into the bedroom and turned on the light. He walked over to her as she was unbuttoning her shirt, and slipped his hands around her waist, hugging her tightly. "I love you."

He could feel her smile against his chest. "I love you, Joe." She looked up at him, her eyes filling with tears. "You saved me…again."

"Always, baby. I will always be there for you." He kissed her softly, then took her hand. "Come on. You'll feel better after a hot shower."

He led her into the bathroom and turned on the water while Emily unzipped her skirt.

"I'm going to start a fire and make some sandwiches, because I know you haven't had dinner, and then we're going to spend the evening in here together. Okay?" He kept his voice soft and hoped his anger wasn't still showing.

She nodded and smiled. "Thank you."

Joe stepped out of the bathroom, closing the door behind him. He got a fire roaring in the fireplace in their bedroom, then set out for the kitchen.

He stopped short when he saw Frank and Nancy in the living room. He lowered his head and walked past them without acknowledgement. He could feel Nancy staring at him, and he'd noticed her tear streaked face when he first entered the room, but he didn't trust himself to talk to either one of them at the moment. It would get ugly fast, and he wasn't going to upset Emily again.

He opened the refrigerator and grabbed some turkey, cheese, mayonnaise, mustard and lettuce. Joe set them on the counter in silence, and reached for a loaf of whole wheat bread to begin assembling sandwiches.

OOO

Nancy looked up at Frank and he shook his head, while mouthing the word, _No_. She flounced down onto the couch on the other side of the room and crossed her arms in front of her. Frank sat down next to her.

"I hate this," Nancy hissed. "Is this the way you Hardys resolve conflict? By not talking?"

Frank put his arm around her and spoke in a low voice so Joe wouldn't overhear. "Nan, be patient. Joe will come around. He just needs some time. Trust me on this."

Nancy's eyes filled with tears in spite of her effort to control them. She did not like this. She wanted to get everything out in the open and resolve the situation…now. "Why is he so stubborn? Why can't he listen to me for one minute? This whole thing could be taken care of tonight."

Frank chuckled. "Not how Joe works. He blows up and then simmers for awhile. If you say something to him now, he's going to blow up all over again."

Nancy watched as Frank looked back at his brother, who was busily making sandwiches and completely ignoring them. "He's still on the verge of losing it. His jaw muscles are really tense."

Nancy shook her head. "Well this is not how I work." She looked up at Frank. "If you ever pull something like this with me..."

Frank hugged her to him. "I'm not Joe, baby."

"Thank goodness."

OOOoooOOO

Joe finished making the sandwiches, grabbed a bag of chips and two bottles of fruit juice, and headed back into the bedroom.

Emily had just come out of the shower and was standing near the fireplace, clad in a short, white, fluffy bathrobe. She had her long hair wrapped up in a towel.

Joe set the food down and stepped over to her. "Here, baby." He undid the towel and motioned for her to sit on the large, fur rug in front of the fireplace. He knelt behind her, gently pressing the towel around her hair, drying it for her.

"Mmmm," Emily sighed as she leaned back against his chest. "You're spoiling me."

"Good." Joe bent down and kissed her neck. "That's what I'm trying to do."

She smiled as he reached back to grab the plates he'd fixed in the kitchen.

"You might not think so when you see your dinner, though" he said in a wry tone.

"It's perfect." She took her plate and sat down to face the fireplace. "How did you know I was craving a turkey sandwich?"

"Just lucky, I guess." He grinned and popped a potato chip in his mouth.

Emily looked toward the door at the sound of clattering dishes in the kitchen. "Is that Nancy and Frank?"

Joe tried not to let the anger he was feeling creep into his voice. "Yes."

"Shouldn't we go out there and talk to them?"

He shook his head. "I can't do that right now."

"But I'm sure they're worried."

"Nancy wasn't very worried when she left you in that bar," he said, his eyes focused on his plate.

"Oh, Joe, that's not fair. She didn't drag me in there. I wanted to help her."

"I don't care." Joe looked up at her. "Nancy's always been this way. She gets on a case and she gets tunnel vision. She doesn't think about anyone or anything around her."

He grabbed his juice bottle and downed a large gulp. "She's gotten Frank into some situations he didn't need to be in, because he had to go traipsing after her to save her from her own stupidity."

"Is she really that bad?" Emily looked at him doubtfully.

"She's reckless." Joe took a bite of his sandwich. "And if she wants to do reckless things on her own, fine. If Frank is willing to put up with it, fine. But she's not going to do it with you. Not ever again."

"Haven't you ever done reckless things on an investigation?"

"Yeah, I suppose I have," he admitted. "But I would never put someone else in that kind of situation. Especially not you."

Emily smiled. "Just the same, I know she's sorry."

He shook his head.

Emily took a bite of her sandwich and sat silently for a moment. Joe looked sideways at her, as she readjusted her sitting position, stretching her bare legs out in front of her and licking some mayonnaise off her thumb. He felt a tightness in his chest as he flashed back to her pushed down on the pool table, a strange man on top of her, with his hands–"

"Joe?" Emily was staring at him.

He smiled at her. "Yeah?"

"Are you okay?"

"Fine."

She looked doubtful as she handed him her juice bottle. He unscrewed the cap and gave it back to her. She took a sip, not taking her eyes off him.

He met her gaze with a smile. "Are _you _okay?"

"Much better now." She took another bite of her sandwich. "Will you promise me something?"

He paused, his juice bottle to his lips. "What?"

She moved closer to him. "Will you promise me that you'll talk to Frank tomorrow?"

He exhaled deeply and turned his head away from her. "Honey..."

Emily touched his arm. "Joe?"

He looked down at her, taking in the pleading look in her eyes. He took another sip of juice and sat silently, staring at the dancing flames in the fireplace. He wasn't ready to talk to anyone. This incident had shaken him to the core. If he and Frank had spent just a few more minutes at Jamie's, if they hadn't gotten back to the ranch before Jake left for the bar, if he hadn't gotten to that back room in time. His stomach twisted. This was going to haunt him for a long while.

Emily pulled her knees up and hugged them to her, resting her head on them.

Joe ran a hand over his face and sighed. He couldn't worry about his own personal demons right now. He had to take care of Emily and make her feel safe again. He reached over and touched her back. "Hey," he said softly.

She didn't respond.

Joe's brow furrowed. "Emily?" He felt her tremble underneath his touch. He put his other hand on her shoulder and slid over to her. Lifting her head off her knees, he saw the tears running down her cheeks. He closed his eyes briefly and pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly. He held her silently for a few moments, then leaned forward, brushing her hair back. "Tell me, baby."

"I can't stand for you and Frank to be angry with each other."

He chuckled low. "Honey, if you're going to get upset every time Frank and I have an argument–"

"No," she interrupted. "I can't stand being the cause of it."

"Sweetheart, you're not. It's Nancy, if it's anyone."

She shook her head. "No, Joe. Please don't allow me or Nancy to ever come between you two. You and Frank are so close." She touched his cheek. "That's one of the things I love about you. How close you are to your family. That's important to me."

He caught the pleading look in her eyes once again and smiled softly. "Honey, Frank and I will work this out. I promise. I can't promise it'll be tomorrow, but we'll work it out."

"But, that's just it. The longer you wait..." She stopped, and Joe knew she was trying hard not to cry. "I want to put this whole mess behind me as soon as possible, okay?"

Suddenly Joe understood. And he was not going to add to the pain of this night by entering into a long, drawn out argument with Frank and Nancy. He couldn't do that to her. He hugged her tightly. "Okay. I'll talk to Frank tomorrow. I promise."

"Thank you," she said with a watery smile as the tears spilled onto her cheeks.

Joe leaned over and brushed them away. "Come on, let's get you to bed."

He stood, then reached down to help Emily do the same. When she was on her feet, Joe scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bed. He laid her down gently, then got in next to her.

"All better?" Joe kissed the side of her head.

Emily sank down into the pillows and smiled. "Yes. Thank you."

"Anything for you, Em. Anything," he told her, running his finger along her cheek.

"Would you do just one more thing for me, then?"

Joe smiled. "Of course, baby. What is it?"

Emily slowly undid the tie of her bathrobe. "Love me, Joe," she whispered. "Love me until I can't think of anything else except how much I love you."

Joe groaned and pulled her close to him, wanting nothing more than to erase her ugly memories of this night and replace them with only beautiful ones. He would be gentle and tender and slow…everything she needed.

Because she was everything he needed…and he'd almost lost that tonight.


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: **Thanks for taking time to leave comments, Caranath, Jackie, unobtrusive, zenfrodo, Kenna, Vinsmouse and bhar! You made me smile. I'm just happy I'm not Nancy. LOL A bit of a transition chapter here as we get back into the mystery, but the anger still lingers. Thank you for reading!

Chapter 28

The next morning, Nancy was awakened by a knock on the front door of the cabin.

"Yoo-hoo!" Aunt Susan called from the front porch. "Is anybody awake?"

Nancy sat up and rubbed her eyes, momentarily forgetting where she was. She looked down and saw Frank lying next to her in a deep sleep, and knew he hadn't heard a thing.

The knocking sounded again, more urgent this time.

Oh, crap. Nancy shook Frank. "Honey, get up! Get up, now. You have to get out of here."

"Hmmm, wh-what?"

"Get out. Go into the living room. Emily's aunt is here."

"Nan, stop, I'm sleeping." Frank rolled over, pulling the pillow on top of his head.

Nancy whisked the covers off him, and Frank sat up, startled. "What the heck are you doing?"

"Get out! We can't let Susan find us together." Nancy gave him a little shove. "Go on."

"I hope everybody's decent," Susan's voice called out, as Nancy heard the doorknob jiggle.

OOO

Frank stumbled into the living room, the comforter wrapped around his waist, and a pillow in his hand. He lay down on the nearest sofa, then looked over to see Joe exiting his bedroom in much the same manner. Frank slammed the pillow over his head, desperately wishing he was still asleep.

Susan tiptoed through the front door, calling out a greeting in an annoyingly chipper voice. Frank cracked one eye open as Susan stopped in front of the couches. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize you weren't awake. It's after eight o'clock."

"That's okay," Joe mumbled.

"Um, do you know if the girls are up?"

Joe shook his head. "No idea."

Frank thought Susan looked a bit deflated. "Oh. Well, no, of course you wouldn't. Um, would you mind meeting at the main house in an hour or so? I'll have breakfast waiting."

Joe nodded.

Susan turned and walked to the door. "Sorry again for waking you." She stepped out onto the porch, closing the door behind her.

Joe stood up, dragging his comforter, and disappeared into his bedroom without a backward glance at Frank.

Frank tried again to readjust his pillow, and drift back to sleep, when he realized Nancy was now standing in front of him.

"Frank?"

"No, baby, please," he murmured. "I need to sleep."

She smiled, then bent down and kissed him on the cheek. "Okay. I'm getting in the shower."

OOOoooOOO

Joe crawled back into bed and pulled Emily into him, closing his eyes.

"Everything all right?" she murmured.

"Yeah," he mumbled, kissing her absently on the shoulder. "Night."

Emily waited until she was sure Joe had fallen back to sleep before she slipped out of his embrace and headed for the bathroom.

OOOoooOOO

Twenty minutes later, Emily walked into the living room of the cabin. She saw Frank sleeping on the couch and smiled. He must be exhausted. She wandered into the kitchen to pour herself a glass of juice, and looked up as Nancy came out of her bedroom.

Nancy rushed over to her, after the scanning the room.

_For Joe_, Emily thought.

"Oh, Em, I need to talk to you." Nancy reached out and hugged her. "I'm so sorry about last night."

Emily hugged her back. "I know."

She didn't blame Nancy for anything that had happened at the bar. As far as Emily was concerned they were both equally to blame…and equally stupid for underestimating the risks involved when one decided to dress up as a prostitute. In the cold light of day, Emily couldn't believe how naive they'd been.

"I wasn't going to leave you there. As soon as I called for help, I came back inside. I just couldn't get away from this creeper cowboy in the front room before Frank and Joe got there." Nancy's eyes were worried as she searched Emily's face.

"It's all right," Emily reassured her. "You didn't force me into coming with you. I knew the risks, and I wanted to go. I promise I don't think for one second this is your fault, Nance."

Nancy stepped back. "It doesn't matter, I still feel responsible. It was my idea."

Emily handed her the carton of orange juice. "You couldn't have known what was going to happen."

"Yeah, but she should have."

Joe walked into the kitchen and put his arm around Emily's shoulders. "It was stupid and irresponsible to go into a bar full of men, dressed like hookers, and not know how it might turn out."

Uh, oh. Emily did not want to start the day with a huge scene. She wanted Joe to focus on the case, not have another knock-down, drag out fight. This time with Nancy.

"Joe..." Nancy began.

"A good detective does that, Nancy. Thinks things through." Joe picked up Emily's drink and started to walk back toward the bedroom, taking Emily with him. "They also don't put innocent people in harm's way when it isn't necessary."

Emily shot Nancy an apologetic look over her shoulder, but for now she was going to placate Joe. But by the end of the day, this would all be resolved. She was going to insist on it.

Joe closed the bedroom door behind him. "You okay, honey?"

"I'm fine." Emily smiled and touched him lightly on the arm. "Joe, this really isn't Nancy's fault, you know. I went there willingly. You need to stop blaming her."

Joe's mouth tightened into a thin line and his eyes grew dark. "You wouldn't have gone there at all if she hadn't brought it up in the first place. In my mind, that makes her responsible."

Emily sighed. He was still too angry to be rational. She would try again later. She leaned in and gave him a soft kiss on the lips. "Why don't you get showered and we can head up to the farmhouse and see what my aunt wants, okay?"

Joe smiled. "Okay." He hugged her tightly, then headed into the bathroom.

_Maybe he'll feel more ready to accept Nancy's apology after he's gotten a dozen or so waffles in him, _she thought as she pulled her hair back into a ponytail and slipped an elastic band around it.

OOO

"Oooooh!" Nancy slammed her glass onto the counter, sloshing orange juice everywhere. Why did Joe have to have a stubborn streak a mile wide?

"What's the matter?" Frank called out sleepily.

"Your pigheaded brother! That's what's the matter," she sputtered, grabbing a dishcloth.

"What's he done now?" Frank sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"He's impossible." Nancy mopped up the juice and threw the dishcloth in the sink. "Emily's not mad at me. She listened. She understood. But Joe...?"

Frank walked over and put his arms around her. "Joe is stubborn. He's also very protective of Emily. I'll talk to him."

"We're not going to get anywhere on this case if we can't resolve this," Nancy grumbled. "I just want to apologize to him."

Frank kissed the top of her head. "I'll talk to him. After I have a shower and some breakfast." He glanced at the clock on the wall. "Oh yeah, I think Susan said something about coming up to the house for breakfast."

"What time?"

"Probably about twenty minutes from now, if I remember right." Frank took a sip of Nancy's juice. "I'll let Joe and Em know."

He banged on Joe and Emily's bedroom door and called out, "We need to be at the house by nine o'clock." Then he turned to Nancy. "I'm getting in the shower."

OOOoooOOO

"And I found this one in the pantry on top of the potato bin," Susan handed Frank a photo of her on the back porch.

Frank turned the photo over and read the back. "I'm getting closer," he read aloud. Whoever this idiot was, he was both stupid and fearless. Not a good combination.

"Well, he's trying to scare you, that's for sure." Nancy took the photo from Frank.

"He's doing a good job, too." Susan picked up a plate and stepped over to the counter. "I don't know what to think anymore." She replenished it with bacon and sat it down on the table. Joe promptly picked up two pieces.

"Is this the only photo you found today?" Frank asked.

"There was another one by the flour." She handed it to him. "It just said, 'Be careful.'"

"You know, just because you're finding these today doesn't mean they were planted today." Joe put a big forkful of waffles into his mouth.

"I agree," Frank said. "I think whoever did this, hid them all at once, knowing that it would take you awhile to discover them." Which meant it could be anyone, not just whoever had access to the house in the past couple of days.

Susan sighed. "It still doesn't change the fact that whoever did this was in my house."

"No, it doesn't," Frank admitted. And the likelihood of that person being a complete stranger was somewhere between slim and none.

"Emily? How would your mother feel about having a visitor for a little while?" Susan asked.

Emily looked up from her plate. "Well, if it's you, Aunt Susan, I'm sure she'd love it. Are you thinking of leaving here?"

Susan nodded and began crying. "I don't think I can stay until all this is resolved. It's making me a nervous wreck."

"Well, then let's go call her." Emily put her arm around her aunt and led her into the next room.

Frank and Nancy exchanged glances. "I'm going to search this house for more pictures," Nancy told him.

"Good idea," Frank said. "Maybe you can get Emily to help you."

Nancy glanced warily at Joe. "I don't know if I have permission to speak to her or not."

Joe scooped up another forkful of waffles. "As long as you don't dress her up like a hooker and throw her into a bar full of men, it should be fine."

"Joe, I–" Nancy began to protest.

"Okay, enough for now," Frank interrupted. "We'll talk about this later."

He wanted to focus on the investigation at the moment, not personal issues. Especially not when he was holding a clue in his hand. But he wasn't going to let the personal crap go on forever either.

He stared at Joe. "And we will talk about this."

Joe shrugged, picked up his plate and deposited it in the sink. "I'm going to kiss my girlfriend goodbye. I'll meet you at the barn," he said to Frank as he walked out of the room.

Frank looked over and saw Nancy's clenched fist resting on the table. He covered it with his hand, then leaned in and kissed her. "Easy, Tiger. I promise this will all work out."

"He just makes me so mad," she fumed.

OOOoooOOO

Emily looked up from her aunt's desk as Joe entered the sewing room.

"Where's Susan?" he asked, as Emily stood and walked over to him, twining her arms around his neck.

"Oh, she went upstairs to start packing. My mom said she could stay as long as she wanted."

"What does your uncle think about that?" Joe pulled her close and nuzzled her right below her ear.

Emily giggled as chills went up her spine. She was ticklish there, and Joe knew it. "I don't know. I think he wants her to be happy and not scared out of her mind twenty-four hours a day."

Joe kissed Emily softly. "Yeah, but I wouldn't want you that far away from me."

"And I wouldn't go."

He pulled her into him again, kissing her longingly, while she tangled her fingers in his hair. She loved kissing Joe. He always made her weak in the knees and slightly dizzy, even though they'd been together for a long time now.

"Oh, excuse me."

Emily broke away from him hastily as her aunt entered the room.

"Um, I guess I'd better get out to the barn," Joe said, giving Emily's hand a squeeze.

"Okay, I'll see you for lunch. " She smiled at him.

Aunt Susan leaned into her niece as Joe started to walk away. "Really, sweetheart, do you think you ought to let him be so...familiar...with you?"

Emily glanced at Joe out of the corner of her eye. He winked at her as he left the room, and she stifled a giggle. "I think it's fine, Aunt Susan. We've been dating for almost a whole year now."

Susan sighed. "Well, you know what they say, dear. He won't buy the cow if he can get the milk for free."

Emily choked on her laughter and gave her aunt an innocent look. "Are you saying I'm a cow, Aunt Susan?"

"No, of course not dear." Susan looked up and Emily widened her eyes. "Oh, never mind. I'm sure he's a trustworthy young man. Just be careful, dear."

Emily hugged her aunt. "I will. I promise. Now, let's get working on a list of everything I'm supposed to be doing while you're gone."


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews, Caranath, unobtrusive, zenfrodo, Maddi, Vinsmouse, Jackie and bhar! Some brotherly love and conflict resolution in this chapter, then full speed ahead to the mystery. Only a few more chapters until the end! Thanks to those reading!

Chapter 29

Frank spied Joe stacking some small bales of alfalfa against the outside of the barn. Time to get things straightened out. Frank hurried over and stood in front of him.

"We need to talk."

"Okay, so talk." Joe said with a shrug, as he hefted another bale onto the pile.

"Come on, Joe." Frank touched his arm. "I'm serious."

He sighed. "What do you want from me, Frank? Do you want me not to be mad at Nancy? Because I don't think I can do that."

"She's apologized. Many times." Frank leaned against the barn. "She's tried to apologize to you, too, but you won't let her."

"It won't make a difference." Joe reached down and snatched up a stick lying in the dirt. "It doesn't change what happened."

"Emily's forgiven her. Why can't you?"

"Why can't I?" Joe snapped the stick in two and threw it to the ground. "I'll tell you why I can't. Because I saw the woman I love, pushed down onto a pool table, with some low-life jackass on top of her."

Frank's head snapped up. "What?" Oh, shit, Emily had been attacked?

"Yeah, Frank." Joe looked at him, and Frank could see the pain in his eyes.

"You didn't know that, did you? You didn't know that bastard had his hand underneath her shirt. You didn't know he touched her." He slammed his hand against the outside of the barn, and Frank could see the rage coming off him in waves.

"He touched her!" Joe shouted at him.

Frank hung his head down. Damn it. This was bad. He'd lost it when he saw that cowboy with his hands on Nancy's legs. He couldn't imagine what he would have done if he'd had his hands under her shirt. Yes, he could. He would have killed him.

"Yeah." Joe slid down onto an alfalfa bale.

His heart ached for Joe. And he understood the force of his anger. Frank felt himself swallowing the urge to suggest they just forget this case and head straight down to that bar and beat the shit out of those cowboys one by one.

"I'm so sorry." Frank sat down next to him and put his arm around his brother's shoulders. "Is Emily okay?"

"I think she's pretending to be."

Frank nodded, treading carefully with his next question. "Did anything else happen to her? I mean, he…he didn't..."

"No, he didn't rape her," Joe replied dully. "Thank God, he didn't have a chance to get that far."

Frank exhaled slowly. He was thankful for that, too. But still, Emily must have been pretty shaken up. "Is there anything we can do to help her?"

"No." Joe sighed. "Don't worry. I'm taking care of her."

"I know you are." Frank patted him on the back. "She's lucky she has you."

"Other way around." Joe bowed his head and stared hard at the ground. "I don't know what I'd do without her. It scares the hell out of me having her so close to danger all the time."

Frank nodded. "I understand."

"No, you don't. Not really." He looked up at his brother. "Nancy is a detective. She knows what the risks are in this kind of work. She accepts them as part of her life."

"You think that means I don't worry about her?" Because some days Frank felt that was all he did.

"No. It's not the worry. I know you worry about Nancy." Joe turned to his brother, a serious look on his face. "Nancy does what she does because she loves it. She'd do it whether or not she was with you. It's who she is. Emily is forced into doing this because she loves _me_." He shook his head. "Totally different."

Frank nodded slowly. It was different. And something Frank had never even considered before.

"And then, when something like last night happens..." Joe raised his arms then let them fall to his side. "It's almost more than I can stand."

Frank rubbed Joe's back and remained silent, letting him vent.

"It sets off that internal struggle again. Is it fair for me to love her? Is it fair for me to force this kind of life on her?"

Tears formed in Joe's eyes and he brushed them away rapidly. "But I'm too selfish. I'm too selfish to even think of letting her go. So, I tell myself that I can keep her safe. I can protect her. I won't let anyone hurt her." He sighed. "And then Nancy takes her on an undercover investigation and she almost gets raped."

Frank exhaled deeply. "Joe, I can promise you that nothing like that will ever happen again. Nan will be sick when she finds out about this."

"This scared the hell out of me." Joe's voice was thick. "I can't stop thinking, what if he'd raped her? What if I hadn't gotten there in time? There was more than one guy in that room. What if they'd all–"

"Don't, Joe. Don't go there," Frank interrupted. "You'll only make yourself crazy. You _did_ get there. You _did_ save her."

Joe nodded, but couldn't say anything.

"Be strong for her now. Just love her and make her feel safe."

"Yeah," Joe managed.

Frank watched as Joe kicked at the ground with the toe of his boot. "Listen, I love Emily, too. I think she's perfect for you, and I'm so sorry about what happened." He looked at him intently. "Nothing like that will ever happen again. I give you my word. Okay?"

"Okay."

"Then you'll accept Nancy's apology?"

Joe let out a deep breath. "Yeah." He looked back at Frank. "But I'm still going to have a hard time with it for awhile. I won't take it out on her…I just want you to know."

"I understand." Frank put his hand on his brother's shoulder. "Thanks for being honest with me."

"You're my brother, Frank, and I love you. And I know you love Nancy. I don't want there to be any problems between the four of us."

"I appreciate that."

"Besides," Joe gave him a slight smile. "I think maybe Nancy could grow on me. As long as she doesn't drag Emily into any more situations like last night's."

"Cross my heart, it won't happen again."

"Then we're good."

Frank grinned as he hugged his brother, then extended his hand to help him stand up. "Then let's get back to work."

OOOoooOOO

Nancy paused at the entrance to Ed's office. "Emily?"

Emily looked up from something she was reading on her uncle's desk and smiled. "Hi, Nance."

Nancy walked in and took a chair opposite the desk. "I just wanted to tell you again how sorry I am about last night."

"I know." Emily smiled at her as she stood. "And I'm telling you to quit apologizing. It's not your fault. I knew I was taking a risk. And fortunately, the guy didn't get more than a grope."

"What?" Nancy was shocked. A grope? What on earth did she mean by that?

"Joe burst through the door just in time." She sat on the edge of the desk and smiled. "My hero."

"You didn't tell me you were hurt!" Nancy was stricken. She obviously hadn't tried hard enough to fight off the cowboy who'd grabbed her. If she had, she could have gotten to the back room and prevented Emily from being hurt. Maybe she never should have left to call the ranch. Maybe if she'd stayed in the bar, she could have figured out a way to get them both out of there before–

"He had his hand under my shirt for a few seconds, Nance," Emily explained, interrupting her thoughts. "Yes, it was horrible and scary, but it was nothing like what other girls have gone through. I can't imagine how awful it must be for a girl who's actually been raped." Her eyes filled with tears.

Nancy stood and hugged Emily. "I'm so sorry. No wonder Joe wants to kill me."

"Would you quit it?" Emily patted her back. "I'm not blaming you. Can't you just forget it? Heaven knows I want to."

Nancy stepped back and saw the look of pain in Emily's eyes. She obviously didn't want to keep reliving the experience and Nancy understood that completely. "Consider it forgotten."

Nancy sat back in the chair. "You know what? With all the stuff that was happening last night, I forgot to tell Frank what we learned in the bar."

"You mean about Randolph trying to stop the deal?"

"Yes. Do you know where they went?"

"Um, I think they went to the barn. Do you want to tell them now?"

Nancy thought for a moment. "I think we'd better."

Emily reached over and picked up the phone. "I'll call down there and tell them to hurry back up here when they're finished. Okay?"

Nancy nodded as Emily began dialing.

OOOoooOOO

Fifteen minutes later, Frank and Joe strode into the farmhouse kitchen.

"What's up?" Frank asked.

Nancy looked at both of them from her position at the kitchen table where she was going over her notes. "I have something I need to tell you. Something I learned last night in the bar from one of Jim's cronies."

"Something important?" Frank took a seat next to her.

Nancy nodded. "It almost slipped my mind, after all the...problems." She glanced at Joe then continued. "Anyway, the bartender knew Randolph, and he said that Randolph wasn't_ pushing_ for this land deal, he was_ fighting_ it."

"What?" Joe was incredulous. "You mean he didn't want it to go through?"

Nancy shook her head.

Frank was thoughtful. "This changes things. Now we need to focus on who would _want_ development." He glanced around. "Where's Emily?"

"Upstairs helping her aunt pack for her trip," Nancy explained.

"She might be able to tell us who would be pro-development around here," Frank said.

"We need to start asking a whole bunch of new questions," Joe concluded.

"Yeah," Frank agreed, looking at his brother. "Let's get going."

Frank leaned in and kissed Nancy, then stood. "Are you still planning on searching the house?"

"Among other things," she said with a grin.

"Okay, we'll meet you back here around lunchtime and compare notes."

As Frank and Joe headed for the door, Nancy got up from her chair and reached out, touching Joe lightly on the arm. She felt guilty for thinking he'd been a jerk last night after what she'd learned about Em. In light of that, Nancy thought he'd shown amazing restraint. She needed to apologize. Profusely.

Joe paused and looked at her.

Nancy swallowed hard, unable to stop the tears from springing to her eyes. "Joe? Emily told me what happened in the bar. I'm sorry. I'm so, so, sorry. I had no idea." She dropped her hand down. "I understand now why you're so upset, and I don't blame you one bit. It was all my fault. Every single second of it."

He was silent for a moment, then sighed. "I know you're sorry, Nancy, and I accept your apology. But you need to promise me that you will never take Emily into a dangerous situation like that again. She could have easily been raped. In fact, she would have been if we hadn't gotten there in time. She's not a detective, and I won't have you taking those kinds of risks with her safety. Are we clear on that?"

Nancy brushed away the tears that had spilled onto her cheeks. She deserved everything Joe said to her and more. "I promise. It was really stupid of me and I regret it more than you know."

Joe nodded.

"Friends?" she asked, extending her hand.

Joe grinned at her. "I think we can do better than that." He held out his arms and Nancy stepped into them for a tight hug.

Frank smiled at them from the front door. "Okay, enough of this mushiness. We have a case to solve."


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: **Thank you so much for reviewing, Caranath, zenfrodo, Jackie, Maddi, bhar, unobtrusive and Vinsmouse! A little moment for Joe at the beginning of the chapter and then the mystery. And this chapter ends with a bang. ;) Thanks to those reading!

Chapter 30

Joe approached the farmhouse around noon after talking to the cowboys on the ranch for most of the morning. None of them had any idea who might be pro-development. It seemed like the thought of changing this area to anything other than ranch land made them all angry. So either someone was hiding their feelings well, or they were looking in the wrong place for information.

Joe glanced up as he heard the screen door open and saw Emily step onto the front porch. He smiled as she hurried down the front steps to greet him.

"Hey, sweetheart," he said, hugging her close.

"Hi," she said, kissing him softly. "Where's Frank?"

"He'll be here in a few minutes."

"That's good." She stepped back slightly. "Have you talked to him?"

"Yes, honey. Everything's fine."

"Really?" Emily's face was anxious.

Joe's eyes softened as he looked down at her. She was always so concerned about other people's feelings…too many times at the expense of her own. "Yes." He led her over to the porch swing and sat down, patting the seat next to him.

She joined him and snuggled into his embrace. He kissed the top of her head. "I talked to him by the barn, and I promise, everything is fine between us."

Emily let out a long sigh. "Good. I was so worried."

"Baby, I don't want you worrying about me and Frank. We'll always be okay, even if we fight about something." He grinned. "And we do that a lot more than you know."

She nodded. "I just never want to come between you two. And I was worried after last night..." She gave an involuntary shiver, and Joe knew she was thinking about that guy in the back room of the bar.

He tilted her chin up so that she was looking into his eyes. "Honey, I won't push you, but I want you to promise that you'll tell me if you're scared or upset or just feel like you need to talk about it, okay?"

She nodded, tears filling her eyes. "It's not so much what he did, Joe. I mean, that was awful, yes. But it's more how it made me feel."

Emily sniffled as a tear ran down her cheek. "I felt like I didn't matter. Like I was only a piece of meat to those guys. It made me feel so powerless and...small. I was so scared." She choked back a sob.

"Oh, baby."

Joe wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly as she began to cry in earnest. He fought hard to hold back his own anger. He still wanted to kill that guy more than he wanted to breathe.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled against his chest. "I don't even know why I'm crying. I mean, it's not like I was raped. And really, it was _my_ fault. I went in there dressed as a hook–"

The flash of rage that went through Joe was intense. He swallowed it down as he cupped her chin and tried to keep it out of his voice.

"Don't you ever say this was your fault. It wasn't, sweetheart, not for one second. And even if you were pretending to be a prostitute, you said 'no.'"

He sighed. "I don't know why there are so many jackass guys out there who can't understand that 'no' means 'no.'" He kissed Emily gently and held her close. "Not your fault, baby. None of it. Got it?"

She nodded and tried to blink away her tears. "Yeah. Listen, don't worry about me. I'm fine. You have a case to work on."

Joe held her back from him slightly and kissed away a tear that was trickling down her cheek.

"You are more important to me than any case. Always." He stood up taking her with him. "Come on, let's go take a walk, okay?"

"But Frank will be here," she protested. "And Nancy. We're supposed to meet them for lunch."

"It'll be all right," Joe said. "I want to be alone with you for awhile today."

Emily looked like she was going to protest again, and Joe placed his fingers over her lips and shook his head. No way was he walking away from her when she was this vulnerable and hurting. No way.

She smiled at him through her tears. "Thank you."

He turned and slipped his arm around her shoulders. "How about we go to the creek? Isn't that your favorite spot on this ranch?"

While Emily nodded her agreement, Joe looked up and saw Frank approaching with a questioning look in his eye. Joe gestured toward Emily with a nod of his head and Frank gave him a knowing smile as Joe headed down the path to the water's edge with Emily by his side.

OOOoooOOO

Frank entered the farmhouse and walked into the kitchen, where he found Nancy assembling turkey sandwiches. He walked over to her and kissed her on the cheek. "Hey, babe."

She smiled as she added another sandwich to the pile on the tray in front of her. "Hey, yourself. Where's Joe?"

"Um, he and Emily went off together for a little bit. I don't think they'll be joining us for lunch." Frank took a sandwich off the plate and sat at the table. "Where's Ed?"

"Doing something with cows in one of the pens," Nancy said, taking the chair next to him.

Frank nodded. "Good. Because we need to have a serious discussion about our suspects."

Nancy looked at him. "Frank, do you think deep down that Ed has anything to do with what's been happening around here?"

"No, I don't."

"I don't either." She smiled. "I want to tell him everything we've learned and ask him for his opinions on who might be pro-development."

"Great minds think alike," he said with a grin.

"Then let's try to find him. I feel like we need to get moving on this."

"Yeah, before something even worse happens," Frank said grimly as he ate another carrot stick. And there was not a chance he was going to let that happen. They were going to find this guy…today.

OOOoooOOO

"Nope, I can't think of one person around here who would be pro-development," Ed said, as he stood near a cattle chute, waiting for another cow to enter.

Nancy sighed deeply. "Nobody wants to get out of the ranching business? Nobody around here would profit from selling this land? People in town, maybe?" She was frustrated. Didn't these people pay attention to anything that was going on around them? There had to be somebody…they just weren't listening.

Ed shook his head. "Darlin', we live forty minutes away from Tulsa. If people wanted to live in the city...they would. Folks live out here because this is where they want to be. This is what they want to do." Ed paused while the vet entered the cattle chute and inserted his gloved arm into the back end of the cow...clear up to his elbow.

Nancy's jaw dropped. "This is what you want to do?"

Ed looked at her, baffled. "We're just checking to see if she's pregnant."

Nancy clenched her legs together tightly and looked at the cow's clearly unamused expression. "Can't she just pee on a stick?"

Ed chuckled. "It don't work that way with livestock, darlin'. Trust me, this don't hurt them none."

"How do you know?" Nancy felt a surge of sympathy for the cow. She wandered to the front end of the chute, where the cow's head was held in place by a metal bar. "I don't like the gynecologist, either," she whispered as she scratched her head. The cow mooed.

Frank was bent over, clearly trying to hide his laughter, when Nancy returned to his side. She shot him a look. The vet stepped out of the chute, his glove filthy, and the cow was released and ushered into the pasture.

Nancy crinkled her nose. "Okay, Ed. I believe you. No one in their right mind would do this unless they wanted to."

Ed nodded as another cow was moved into the chute. "Easy enough to move to the city if this ain't to your likin'."

Frank was still chuckling. "Yeah, you'll get no argument from me on that one. Thanks, Ed." He turned to Nancy. "Ready, honey?"

"Just a minute." She walked back to the front of the chute and patted the new cow on the head. "I'm so sorry."

She glared back at Ed and the vet and walked away with Frank, who was struggling mightily to control his laughter.

"I have only two words for you, Mr. Insensitive." She stopped and turned to him with a smug smile on her face. "Prostate exam."

OOOoooOOO

Frank returned to the cabin an hour later to find Joe fixing himself a sandwich in the kitchen.

"Hey," he greeted his younger brother.

Joe nodded at him as he took a huge bite of his ham and Swiss on rye.

"Emily around?"

"Up at the house," Joe said, his mouth full.

Frank collapsed on one of the leather sofas and leaned back, closing his eyes. He was exhausted, and they still didn't have one suspect that he felt was legitimate in this case.

""Yeah, that's where I left Nancy. She was going to call Susan after she arrived at Emily's mom's house and question her a little more. I offered to do it, but she thought she might be able to get more information out of her."

Joe walked over to the sofa opposite Frank, balancing his sandwich, a bag of potato chips and a bottle of apple juice in his hands. He sat down, opened the bag of chips, and offered some to his brother, who shook his head.

"Nancy feels men make Susan a little edgy," Frank commented.

Joe snorted. "Ya think? Sex makes her nervous, that's for sure."

He took a swig of his juice.

"Well, at least the idea of Emily having sex makes her nervous." Frank grinned. "Or maybe it's just the thought of Emily having sex with you that does it."

Joe raised his eyebrows and took another bite of his sandwich.

Frank sighed. "Hopefully Nan can find some sort of clue in something Susan says today." Because he didn't know where else to turn at the moment. They had questioned everyone on the entire ranch except the cows. And he was seriously considering doing that next.

"You know, I was thinking Frank. What about Brookings?"

Frank turned his head. "Pete Brookings?"

"Yeah." Joe leaned back and propped his feet up on the coffee table. "The cowboy we talked to on the cattle drive said Pete was worried about Jamie having to manage the ranch when he dies. He told us how hard it was to keep it going by himself. If he sold his land, it would be a way to secure a future for his daughter."

Frank sat up. "That's true. But Jamie told us she loves the ranch. Wouldn't she be upset if her father sold it?"

Joe grinned. "Not if he was forced into selling."

Frank stood and began pacing back and forth in front of the stone fireplace. Joe definitely had something here.

"So, you're saying that if _Ed_ was forced to sell because of all the vandalism that's occurring, it opens the land for development, and Brookings will give that as the reason for_ his_ wanting to sell?"

"Yeah. He'll tell everybody that he can't keep his ranch with the development company owning Ed's. That will make Ed look like the jackass and Brookings look like he didn't have a choice in the matter. It will also exonerate him in his daughter's eyes."

Joe popped another chip in his mouth.

"And you think with Randolph dead the other city council members will still push through the zoning change?" Frank asked.

"I think it's a lot more likely."

"So then, Brookings gets his money, gets away from the ranch and the painful memories of his dead wife, as well as securing his daughter's future and nobody's the wiser?"

"What do you think?" Joe asked.

Frank broke into a huge grin. "I think you may have solved it, bro. To everyone else, it looks like the development company is responsible. It's a good cover for Brookings. The people around here are very suspicious of outsiders anyway. They're just going to assume it's underhanded tactics by some big corporation that forced Ed and Pete to sell."

"Now we just need to set a trap and see if we catch Brookings in it," Joe said.

"Yeah. I want to head up to the farmhouse and tell Nancy about this and see what she thinks. Something tells me she might be our best bet for getting some info from Pete."

"Planning on using her as bait?" Joe asked.

Frank gave him a look. "Don't be ridiculous. It's just that the men around here don't seem to take her very seriously as a detective. She can use that to her advantage."

"Yes, she could." Joe paused. "You set the trap with your own girlfriend, though. Emily won't be a part of it."

"Don't worry." Frank smiled. "I had no intention of involving her."

"Good." Joe stood up. "Then let's go to the house."

OOOoooOOO

Frank entered the farmhouse kitchen with Joe and found it full of visitors. Emily was working by the stove, and Nancy and Ed were talking to Jake and another man they'd not met before.

"Well, speak of the devil," Ed called out when he saw Frank and Joe. "We were just heading out to find you. The cowboys are all working in the south pasture and I finally have some time to talk."

Frank grinned and extended his hand to the stranger. "Glad we saved you the trouble. I'm Frank Hardy."

The man, who looked to be about Ed's age, smiled and shook Frank's hand. "Bob Matthews."

"Joe Hardy," Joe said as he took the man's hand.

"Bob here is another member of our zoning board," Ed explained. "He came by to talk to us about a little something."

The warm smile left Bob's face, replaced by a look of concern. "We're going to be voting later this week on the land development deal. Of course, none of us wants this to go through, but some of our members are starting to get cold feet about standing up to this company."

"Why is that?" Frank wanted to know.

"We've all started getting threats," Bob explained. "Serious threats. Everyone's talked to Sheriff Payne about it, and he's contacted the company in California. They deny any knowledge of it."

"What kind of threats?" Joe asked.

"Phone calls, letters, that sort of thing," Bob shook his head. "It's crazy. Nothing like this has ever happened before. And we have no proof this company is behind it, but who else would it be?"

Before anyone could respond, the sound of an explosion rang through the air. The large window over the kitchen sink shattered, sending shards of glass flying through the kitchen. This was followed closely by a second explosion.

Frank reached up and yanked Nancy down to the floor, then watched as Joe leapt for Emily and pulled her to the ground, covering her body with his. For a moment, there was an eerie silence, then pandemonium broke loose.

"What the hell was that?" Ed yelled.

Nancy struggled in Frank's arms.

"Stop," he ordered. "Are you okay, Nan?"

She nodded. "Frank, was that...?"

"Yeah," he said grimly. "It was a gunshot."

OOO

"Joe?" Emily whispered from her position underneath him.

He moved slightly. "Are you hurt, baby?"

Emily shook her head, staring at the steady stream of red liquid headed across the floor in her direction. "Joe!" she cried.

He pulled her up and clutched her to him. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

She gestured to the floor, and Joe eyes followed. She felt him swallow hard when he saw Bob Matthews with a single, fatal gunshot wound to the head, crumpled on the floor not two feet away.

She turned her head and saw Nancy trying to wiggle out of Frank's grasp. "No, I'm not letting you go. It's not safe."

"Frank, it's my job. Knock it off. We'll argue about this later."

Emily watched as Frank released her reluctantly. Nancy turned her head and saw Matthews. "Oh, no."

OOO

"Don't look, baby." Joe pulled Emily back against his chest and yelled to Ed, who was starting to stand, "Get down! You don't know who's out there."

He watched as Frank left Nancy's side and crawled toward the phone, despite the glass on the floor. He reached up for the receiver and pulled it to his ear. "Dead," he said. "The lines have been cut."

Joe loosened his grip on Emily slightly as she pushed against him. He saw her turn her head and finally notice Jake lying on the floor.

"Jake!" She clutched at Joe, choking back a sob. "Joe, please tell me he's not..."

Joe scooted over toward the cowboy, who gave out a low moan. Joe sighed in relief then examined him. "Shoulder wound," he called out. He ripped off his own shirt and began to bandage it around Jake. "We need to get him help."

Emily began crawling toward him.

"Stop," Joe ordered. "The glass, baby. You'll cut yourself."

"I need to get the first-aid kit," she said hoarsely. "It's in that cabinet." She motioned behind Joe to the wall of doors.

"Honey, a first-aid kit won't help him right now," Joe said, bandaging the wound as tightly as he could with his shirt. "He needs an ambulance."

Emily shook her head. "No, I want it. You can pack the wound with gauze."

Ed reached behind him and got it out, handing it to Joe, who rummaged through, and piled the box of gauze squares against Jake's shoulder, then began re-tying his shirt as a tourniquet.

"He's so pale," Emily whispered as she scooted over toward Jake and pulled his head into her lap.

Joe finished with the tourniquet then cupped Emily's chin with his hand. "Are you sure you're all right?"

Emily nodded, but then glanced down at the blood on Joe's arms and the side of his face. "But you're not. Honey, you're bleeding."

"Just some nicks from the glass. I'm fine." Avoiding the larger shards on the floor, he moved over to Frank. "What now?"

OOO

"We get help." Frank's voice was grim, but he had snapped firmly into his detective mode and was all business. "Ed, where's the nearest phone?"

Ed returned from his office, where he'd crawled to check the phone line on his desk. "Brookings' ranch."

"So all of your phones are connected to the one line?" Nancy asked.

"Nope, the phone in the barn and in the cabin are different extensions, but all the wires are in the same utility box. I'm betting whoever did this, cut the wires in the box," Ed told her.

"I'm going to check," Frank said.

"I'm coming with you," Nancy said, as she duck-walked over to him.

Frank sighed and decided against arguing with her when he saw the determined look in her eyes. "Ed, where do the wires enter the house?"

"Around back. South side."

"I'm checking that on my own," Frank said firmly. "I'll be back in a few minutes."

Frank put his hand on Nancy's shoulder. "Do not come after me. Understand?"

She nodded as Frank made his way to the back door and slowly eased it open. He was greeted with silence, except for the chirping of a finch on the gable above his head. He crept around to the back of the house and examined the small box attached to the wood siding. It was intact, which meant the wires had been cut at the main box.

He quickly returned to the kitchen, where Nancy greeted him with a relieved expression on her face.

"No damage to the wires at the entry point of the house."

Ed nodded grimly. "Main box. It's at the end of the road. Gives the utility crews easy access that way."

"Okay, I'm headed down there, then." Frank said.

"Not without me you're not," Nancy insisted, grabbing his arm.

Frank turned to her, knowing she wouldn't stay put, even if that's what he wanted. "Fine. But you will listen to me and do everything I tell you...without argument. Understood?"

She looked like she was about to protest, and Frank stared at her intently for a moment. Nancy gave him a grudging nod. "Understood."

He turned to Joe. "I'll get to a phone and send an ambulance. If we're not back in twenty minutes and help hasn't come, assume something's gone wrong."

Joe nodded as he continued to monitor Jake's wound.

"Be careful, please." Emily's voice was shaky as she looked at both of them.

"We will," Frank reassured her. Ordinarily he would've followed that up with "don't worry", but in this case, that sounded more than ridiculous. He shook his head as he took one last look at the chaos around him, before taking Nancy by the hand and heading out the door.


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: **Thanks so much for leaving feedback, Caranath, Leya, Jackie, zenfrodo, Kenna, Maddi, bhar, Vinsmouse and unobtrusive. It's very much appreciated! All will be revealed in this chapter! Thank you for reading!

Chapter 31

Frank wrapped his arms around Nancy protectively as he hustled her to Ed's truck. Opening the door, he shoved her in on the driver's side, then quickly followed her. He started the engine and headed for the main road at the end of the driveway.

"I don't see anyone," she commented, surveying the area around her.

"They could be hiding." Frank's mouth was in a tight line. "You wait in here while I check the box."

He turned his head, expecting her to protest. Nancy opened her mouth looking like she was about to say something, then closed it just as quickly. Frank smiled inwardly…she was learning. He patted her thigh, then stepped out of the truck and crept over to the utility box. The cover had been removed and several wires pulled out haphazardly.

"Damn," he muttered. He swung back up into the cab. "We need to get help from somewhere else."

"What about Brookings?"

Frank shook his head. "I think he's behind this. Joe and I were about to explain our theory to you when the shooting started."

She sat silently for a moment before turning in her seat. "You're right. It all makes sense. If Pete could force Ed to take the deal, then no one would blame him for doing the same."

"Yeah," he agreed. "And he could leave the ranch behind without looking like he was selling out on Jamie."

"How could I have missed that?" Nancy braced herself against the passenger side door as the truck begin to list to one side. "Frank?"

He glanced over. "Oh, crap."

Frank put the brakes on, threw the truck in park and opened the door. "Stay here," he said as he jumped out.

He walked around the vehicle and saw that the right front tire was completely flat and the rear tire was halfway there. He ran his hands through his hair in frustration and swore. Opening Nancy's door, he helped her out of the truck. She bent down to examine the tire.

"Whoever fired the gun...Brookings, I'm guessing...also punctured the tires, huh?" she mused.

"Yeah, he didn't want us going for help, that's for sure."

"That means he wanted to keep us at the ranch." Nancy's eyes grew wide. "Frank, he's probably planning something worse. Everyone in the house is in danger!"

And that was exactly what Frank was afraid of. He had to think fast. _Come on Hardy, lives are depending on you._

OOOoooOOO

Joe stepped back into the kitchen after carefully going through the farmhouse and making sure every entrance was secured.

Emily turned to him, fear showing in her eyes. "He needs a doctor," she whispered.

Joe looked down at Jake and took in his pale countenance, clammy skin and shallow breathing.

"I know." He glanced at the clock again. Nancy and Frank had been gone for fifteen minutes. If an ambulance didn't arrive in five more minutes, Joe was going after them.

OOOoooOOO

"What do we do?" Nancy asked.

Frank thought for a moment. Getting help was the most important thing right now. "I guess we head to the barn. Let's grab an ATV. Or a horse, if we have to. We have to get an ambulance for Jake. He's not going to make it if we don't."

Nancy nodded and slipped her hand into his as they started to take off toward the barn. "Wait!" She tugged on him. "Listen, I hear a vehicle. Someone's coming."

He turned and shoved her behind him as a blue pick-up truck rolled to a stop by the driveway entrance. Jamie Brookings peered across the cab through the passenger side window. "Wow, what happened to Ed's truck?"

"Blow out," Frank lied. "Where are you coming from?"

Jamie flashed him her usual dazzling smile. "Town. I had to take a package to the post office." A look of concern quickly replaced the smile. "You seem upset. Is something wrong?"

"Yeah, something's wrong. Jake's been shot and he's badly hurt," Frank told her.

Jamie's mouth fell open and she paled visibly. "Shot? Jake? What happened?"

Frank hurried over to her truck, taking Nancy with him. "We'll explain on the way. Right now, we need to get to a phone."

Jamie drove quickly down the road to her ranch, shaking her head over Frank's explanation of the afternoon's events. "How? Who?" she stammered as she came to a stop on the gravel driveway near her farmhouse and opened the driver's side door.

Frank shot Nancy a warning look, not wanting to voice his suspicions out loud to Brookings' daughter. They stepped down from the truck on the passenger side and Nancy clutched at Frank's shirt. He turned his head to see Pete Brookings' body sprawled in the grass with a fatal gunshot wound to the back of his head.

Oh, shit. They were in trouble now.

OOOoooOOO

Joe paced back and forth between the farmhouse kitchen and the living room, checking the clock hanging over the kitchen sink for what seemed like the hundredth time in the past five minutes.

He surveyed the room. Ed, leaning against the wall, breathing a little too heavily. Jake, pale and unconscious, his head resting in Emily's lap. Emily, her cheeks tear-stained and her clothing covered in blood as she tried to staunch the flow from Jake's wound. Bob, the man he'd only just met, dead on the floor, his eyes opened and glassy.

Joe closed his own eyes briefly. _Damn, I've got to leave them. Jake will die for sure if I don't, and Ed doesn't look too good either._ Joe wondered if he didn't have a wound he was concealing.

His heart tugged as he looked at his girlfriend_. She'll be totally unprotected if I go. _

Joe paced some more, knowing he was about to do the thing he feared the most…putting Emily in harm's way.

He sighed deeply. _Something's wrong. Something's happened to Frank and Nancy. I know it._

Emily caught his eye and nodded. "You have to, Joe," she whispered. "We'll be okay, I promise."

He crossed the room to her, bent down and kissed her lips softly. "I'll be back."

"I know."

OOOoooOOO

"Damn it," Frank hissed, turning Nancy away from the body lying on the lawn. He sensed the rifle cocking behind him before he heard it.

"Don't even think about moving." Jamie's voice was cold and deadly.

Frank's arms tightened around Nancy's shoulders. "Why, Jamie?" he asked as she circled to stand in from of them.

"Nobody would sell. " She laughed. "Everybody around here wants to be stuck on these damned ranches forever."

"But, I thought you loved it here," Nancy said.

Jamie snorted. "I hate it here. This place killed my mother. But did my father care? No. He wouldn't even consider moving. No matter how much she pleaded, how much she begged. He kept insisting this was his land. This was where his family had been for a hundred years, and he certainly wasn't going to change that now. Not for some weak woman who couldn't hack it."

Crap. Why hadn't he seen that? Because he was too worried about Jamie coming onto him. Although maybe that had been part of her plan. An easy way to distract him from what was really going on. And it had worked, too. Now Frank had made a fatal error that placed Nancy in danger as well himself and everyone on the ranch.

Jamie leveled the gun. "My plan would have worked, if you all hadn't interfered."

Nancy shook her head. "No, it wouldn't have. You know better than us that the people around here don't want development."

Jamie smiled. "Daddy said the same thing to me. But he was wrong. It would have worked. Ed would have sold. He listens to his wife, and Susan was close to breaking. My plan was working." She laughed softly. "And it's still going to work. Once you two are gone, no one will ever know what happened here or at Ed's today."

"Jamie, you can't do this. You can't think that murdering people is the answer. You can't possibly believe you'll get away with it." Frank thought that maybe if he stalled her, he could make a move for her gun.

"I'm willing to take my chances." She gestured with her rifle. "Get moving. And don't you dare try anything, Frank. I've just been waiting for an excuse to get rid of your lame-ass girlfriend."

Although not after that comment. Frank wasn't about to risk Nancy's life. Time to figure out Plan B. And hope Joe would realize they were in serious trouble and go get help.

OOOoooOOO

Joe dashed off to the area near the barn where the spare pickup trucks and other vehicles were parked. He tried the keys he took from the house in a truck until he found the one that worked, then backed out and flew down to the end of the driveway.

He parked the truck and hopped out when he saw the white pickup Frank had taken, the tires on the passenger side completely flat. He slammed his hand on the hood in frustration. _Damn it, where are they?_

Looking down the road in either direction gave him no clue, so he quickly climbed back in the truck and drove over to the cabin. "Please, please, please," he muttered as he raced up the slate path and threw open the door. He grabbed the phone and was relieved to hear a dial tone. He called the sheriff's office, and explained the situation.

"Do you have any idea where Frank and Nancy might be now?" Sheriff Payne asked.

"No, but I'm going back to look for clues," Joe told him. "I really need an ambulance out here though. Jake's fading fast."

"It's on its way, son," Sheriff Payne assured him. "And so am I."

"Thanks," Joe said, relieved. "If I can't find any clues by the truck, I'm going to start driving around. If they're on foot, they couldn't have gone too far."

"Gotcha," the sheriff said, as he hung up the phone.

OOOoooOOO

Emily was startled by a loud banging on the farmhouse door. _Oh, no. No._ She closed her eyes briefly and tried not to make a sound. The doorknob rattled again. "Emily!" a loud male voice called out. "Emily, are you in there?"

"Tim," she whispered aloud. She eased Jake's head off her lap and rested it gently on a towel. She stood shakily, and rushed to the back door, unlocking the deadbolt and flinging it open. Tim's eyes widened as he stared at her blood soaked clothing. "My God, Emily, what happened? Are you hurt?"

She shook her head, unable to speak, as she grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. "Jake," she managed, gesturing to the other side of the room.

Tim looked around, his jaw dropping. "What the hell? Where are Frank and Joe?"

"Someone shot through the window, Tim. Completely out of the blue. Nancy and Frank left to get help, but they haven't come back," she explained. "Joe went after them." She couldn't keep the tremor out of her voice and she knew her hands were shaking. Her world was crumbling around her and she couldn't do anything to stop it.

Tim's eyes softened. "Shh," he said, pulling her in for a hug. "He'll be all right. There's no one out there now."

Emily nodded, as Tim released her and walked over to Jake. She followed him on wobbly legs, watching as Tim examined the wound, applied more pressure and tightened the tourniquet. Then he knelt down near Emily's uncle. "Ed, you okay?"

Ed looked up, slightly glassy-eyed. "Tim?"

"Yeah, Ed, it's me." He moved Ed slightly and Emily gasped. Her uncle's shirt was soaked with blood in the back.

Tim looked up at her. "Emily? I think I'm going to need your help, sweetheart."

OOOoooOOO

"Open it," Jamie ordered.

Frank looked down at the storm cellar door nestled in the overgrown grass and hesitated. Was there still a chance he could overpower Jamie without risking Nancy?

"Open it!" Jamie's voice was hard and her rifle was aimed directly at Nancy's head. "I'm a crack shot, Frank, and you know it."

He wasn't even going to try. Frank leaned forward and lifted the rusty metal door. Dank, cool air rushed up to greet him. He stood and looked at Jamie. "You don't need to do this."

Jamie smiled. "No, I could just shoot you both and toss your bodies down there. But I like you, Frank. I can't make myself gun you down in cold blood. I'll just have to kill you slowly, so I don't have to watch. It's a real shame things couldn't have been different." She glared at Nancy. "They still could be. I could just get rid of this bitch and then you and I could leave here together."

Frank's hands clenched into fists at his side. "I would never leave Nancy. I love her."

Jamie shrugged. "Suit yourself." She gestured with the rifle. "Down there. Now."

Frank pulled Nancy into him and kissed her on the side of the head. "Step down carefully, baby," he said, as she proceeded down the ladder.

When she reached the bottom, Jamie pointed the rifle at Frank. "Now you. And don't even think of trying anything, or I might be forced to change my mind about not shooting her."

Frank eased himself down the ladder and pushed Nancy behind him. "This won't work, Jamie."

"Oh, I think it will. Besides, I was ready for something like this." She laughed. "You'll both be dead by tonight. Poisoned by the carbon dioxide gas."

She slammed down the doors to the storm cellar, and Frank heard her slide the bar across them. Metal scraped against metal, as what sounded like a heavy chain being wound through the handles, secured the door further. The click of a padlock sealed their fate.

"Nighty night," Jamie's voice echoed from above.


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: **Thank you for the reviews, zenfrodo, Caranath, unobtrusive, Maddi, Kenna, Jackie, bhar, Vinsmouse and Leya! I really enjoy reading what you have to say! Thanks also to those who are reading!

Chapter 32

Joe jumped down from his pickup and began searching the area around the vehicle Frank and Nancy had abandoned. He noticed footprints in the dust near the road, as well as tire tracks. _Looks like a truck pulled over._

He checked the foot prints and noticed that they bore the trademark imprint of the sneakers Frank had been wearing. He could tell there was one right footprint that made a deeper impression in the dirt than the others, and that there was no left footprint nearby to match it.

Joe snapped his fingers. _Frank put his weight on that foot when he stepped up into a truck. Someone picked them up here._ He followed the tire tracks until they reached the pavement again. Headed in the direction of the Brookings ranch. _I'll bet Frank had whoever was driving, take them there to make a phone call._ Joe turned and hopped back into his pickup. _That's where I'm headed, too._

OOOoooOOO

Nancy shivered as she heard the metal chain being wrapped around the door handles above her.

Frank pulled her into him and kissed the side of her head. "It'll be fine."

She blinked, trying to adjust to the pitch black of the storm cellar in contrast to the bright sunshine she'd been in moments before.

"I don't think there's another way out of here," she said.

Frank held his fingers up to his lips, warning her to be silent. He pointed upwards. "I don't think Jamie's left," he whispered.

Nancy nodded then turned around to try and observe her new surroundings. "I can't see a thing."

Frank fumbled in his front pocket for a moment, then pulled out a penlight flashlight attached to his keychain. He turned it on and waved the light around the storm cellar. The beam caught a large object on the floor, and Nancy gasped. Frank stepped closer to it, keeping the object in the light. Her eyes met Frank's as the truth hit her. They were staring at a fifty pound block of dry ice.

OOOoooOOO

Joe parked his pickup off the road, near the entrance of the Brookings' ranch, and exited the vehicle. An eerie silence greeted him. _Something's not right. I don't know what, but I can feel it. _

He decided to sneak up to the farmhouse as best he could, trying to avoid detection by any of the ranch hands. He knew they were working with Ed's cowboys today in the south pasture, but who knew how many of them were involved with Brookings on this and may have stayed behind?

Joe reached back into the truck and grabbed a cowboy hat from the passenger seat. He put it on and pulled it low over his eyes, hoping to disguise himself. Then he headed down the dirt road that led to the main part of the Brookings' spread.

OOOoooOOO

"Frank?" Nancy's voice was shaky. "How long do you suppose she's had that down here with the doors closed?"

Frank began unbuttoning his shirt. "I don't know, but we can't take any chances." He handed Nancy the flashlight, walked over to the block of ice and covered it with his shirt. "We need to find something else, Nan. Something else to either put it in, or cover it with."

He needed to work fast. He had no idea how long that block of ice had been down here and how much carbon dioxide they were now breathing in. If they passed out, they didn't stand a chance.

Frank trained the beam of light from the flashlight over the walls of the cellar. Nancy stopped when him when he reached a set of shelves. "Is there anything on those that might work?"

He walked over to them and began to search while Nancy held the flashlight. "Well, let's just say that the Brookings aren't nearly as well equipped to survive a tornado as Ed and Susan."

"I don't even think they use this storm cellar anymore," she commented. "The grass around it seemed too overgrown, and it's really not that close to the house."

He nodded as he dug out a small plastic tarp. "I think you're right. Here, this will help." He handed it to Nancy and turned back to the shelves.

"And possibly this," he added, holding up a shovel.

She followed him back over to the dry ice. Frank took the tarp and laid it over the block, being careful not to touch the ice. "Okay, now let's see if we can't scrape up enough dirt from the floors and walls of this place to insulate that thing even more."

She smiled at him. "Frank Hardy, you're a genius."

He grinned back at her. "Would you mind repeating that the next time we meet up with Joe?"

OOOoooOOO

Emily hurried over to Tim and gasped at the blood she saw on her Uncle Ed's shirt. "He didn't say anything. Why didn't he tell us he was hurt?"

Tim's face was grim. "That's Ed for you." He eased the man, who was only semi-conscious, slightly forward to look for a wound. "Honey, get my knife out of my back pocket for me. I need to cut this shirt off. I can't see a damn thing."

Emily reached into the back pocket of Tim's jeans and drew out a Swiss Army knife. She handed it to him, and he sliced through Ed's shirt from top to bottom. Pulling the fabric apart, he spotted the gunshot wound on his lower left side. "Okay Em, we need to lay him face down. Can you sweep away some of this glass?"

Emily nodded and scrambled to her feet to grab a broom. When she'd cleared away the glass, she dashed into the family room to grab an afghan her Aunt Susan kept draped over the back of the sofa. She spread it on the kitchen floor, and Tim eased Ed onto it.

"Is it bad?" Emily whispered.

"I don't know. My specialty is horse anatomy, not human," Tim said as he glanced around. "Do you have any more first-aid supplies?"

"Let me check upstairs." Emily struggled to shove down the panic she was feeling as she ran to the upstairs bathroom and began pulling toiletries, cosmetics and other supplies out of the cabinets, searching desperately for another first-aid kit. She ended up grabbing a handful of towels instead.

"They're not sterile, but it's all we have in the house."

"That's okay," Tim assured her as he took them. "We just need to stop the bleeding right now. They can deal with the other stuff in the hospital."

She nodded and tears began filling her eyes as she looked at the horror around her. _Please come back, Joe. Please._

OOOoooOOO

Joe crept along the road silently, on guard for anything amiss. He noticed that the place seemed deserted. He hoped that meant the Brookings' cowboys were all in the south pasture and none of them were in cahoots with Pete.

He startled as the sound of a truck engine revving reached him. Joe quickly scrambled down a slight embankment that lead to the creek which made up the main border of the Brookings' ranch. Joe peered through some tall grass and noticed Jamie behind the wheel. _She's driving like her pants are on fire. I wonder if Frank and Nancy sent her to get help? _

Joe stayed down near the creek bed and followed its path until he was closer to the main house. He crept over some boulders until he was on the driveway again. Pausing by the edge of the embankment, he searched for any signs of life. Not hearing anything, he stepped out into the open and headed for the house.

As he approached the front lawn, something he saw out of the corner of his eye made him stop. He rushed forward until he was staring down at the body of Pete Brookings. _Damn it!_ Joe tried to steady himself as he took in the gruesome sight in front of him. Gunshot to the head at close range. He closed his eyes momentarily. _It's Jamie. Shit._

He dashed up the farmhouse steps and yanked so hard on the screen door, it almost came off its hinges. He dashed inside, searching frantically for a phone. Finding an old-fashioned one hanging on the kitchen wall, he grabbed for the receiver and dialed the operator.

"Yeah, hi, this is Joe Hardy. Listen, I know Sheriff Payne probably isn't there right now, but I need him to report to the Brookings' ranch as soon as possible. Tell him it's an emergency."

"What kind of emergency?" the deputy asked.

Joe rolled his eyes. "Tell him there's been a homicide."

"A homicide?" the deputy's voice rose.

"Yes, and tell him to get out here quickly."

"I'll do my best to reach him on the radio. He said he was headed to Ed's place. That there was some trouble there. He also mentioned that the phones weren't working."

"Yeah," Joe said, trying to be patient. "Tell him the phone in the cabin works and I need him here ASAP."

"Gotcha."

Joe hung up, not wanting to waste any more time on conversation, and began searching the house for clues. He wandered through the main floor rooms, which appeared very clean and orderly to him.

He headed upstairs and found Jamie's room first. He stepped inside, noticed the simple rustic furnishings, accented with homey quilts and other feminine items. He paused as he spotted the luggage. Three suitcases with airplane tickets sticking out of the front pocket of the carry-on bag.

Joe shook his head and bent down to try to read the ticket. He could just make out the words "New York City" written on the ticket envelope. He sighed and stepped into the hallway. If Frank and Nancy came here, they'd obviously encountered Jamie.

A sick feeling came over him and his stomach began to twist. If she was the one who murdered her own father, what would she do to Frank and Nancy? He dashed down the stairs and out into the yard, hoping that he wouldn't find them lying in the grass as well.

OOOoooOOO

Frank kept prodding at the earthen floor of the storm cellar, while Nancy looked on anxiously. "Any progress?" she asked.

He sighed in frustration. His plan wasn't working like he wanted. "Not really. This earth is packed so tightly, not much is coming up."

"How long do you think we have down here before there's no air left?"

He didn't want to frighten her, but he didn't think they had long. "I don't know. I'm hoping that the tarp and my shirt will buy us some time."

Frank struck his shovel hard into the ground again. This time he felt something give. "Hey, wait a minute." He glanced over his shoulder at Nancy. "Can you show some light here, babe?"

Nancy turned on the small flashlight and directed the beam toward Frank's shovel.

"It's wet," he said. "Groundwater must be coming up. I wonder if that's why they abandoned this shelter."

"It floods?"

"Yeah, and it definitely would in a rainstorm if water is seeping in when it's this dry. The water table must not be very deep here…too close to the creek." Frank stuck the shovel into the dirt and scooped up a shovel full. He smiled at Nancy. "I think we're going to be okay."

OOOoooOOO

Emily startled as a loud knock sounded on the back door.

"Maybe it's the ambulance," Tim said, as he walked over to open it.

Emily looked past him and saw Jamie Brookings standing on the back steps. She seemed surprised to see Tim.

"Oh, Tim. I, um, I was just coming back from town and I noticed the utility box at the end of Ed's driveway had all the wires pulled out. Is everything okay?" Jamie asked.

Tim opened the door wider allowing her to enter. "No, Jamie. Everything is not okay."

Emily watched as Jamie stepped into the kitchen and stared at the scene in front of her. "Wh-what on earth happened here? Oh my gosh, Em! Are you all right?"

Emily shook her head and glanced down at the blood covering her sundress and her bare legs. "No. Did you happen to see Joe out there?"

"No, why?"

"He was supposed to be getting help. Frank and Nancy left over thirty minutes ago." Emily twisted her hands in front of her. "I know something must have happened to them, and now I'm worried about Joe, too." She bent her head down as the tears fell.

"We're hoping an ambulance is on its way," Tim explained. He gestured to Ed and Jake. "They're not going to make it if help isn't here within the next little while."

"But what happened? Did a gas main explode or something?" Jamie asked.

"Gunshot." Tim's voice was grim as he looked around the room, seeming to debate what to do next. "I can't explain now. I need to get some help. Listen, Jamie, would you stay here with Emily? I can't take the chance that an ambulance has been called, and I'm afraid trying to move these guys will just make things worse."

Jamie's voice was steady as she glanced at Emily. "Of course. I'll be happy to stay with her, Tim."

OOOoooOOO

"Honey?" Nancy called out to Frank as he finished scooping dirt on top of the tarp-covered dry ice.

"Yeah?" Frank wiped his brow with the back of his hand.

"Well, I was just looking at this metal door, and it seems like these handles are bolted in and not welded on." She turned to him. "I think if we had a wrench, you might be able to get this undone."

Frank walked over to where Nancy was standing under the entrance to the storm cellar. A thin sliver of light came through where the edges of the double doors didn't quite meet. He smiled at her. "Now, who's the genius?"

Nancy laughed. "I guess that would be me this time. But only if there's a wrench lying around here somewhere." Please let there be a wrench. She knew that even though they'd covered the dry ice as much as they could, it wasn't full-proof. They had to get out of this storm cellar…and fast.

Frank returned to the shelves where he found the tarp. "I thought I saw some tools before. Here...do you still have the flashlight?"

Nancy retrieved it from the pocket of her shorts and turned it on. "It's not very bright, I'm afraid."

"Yeah, the battery is probably going," Frank agreed as he searched through the dusty items on the shelf. "Wait a minute. This might be it." He reached his hand back further where the light couldn't penetrate and pulled out a rather rusty looking wrench.

"Wow, is that even going to work?"

"We'll make it work," Frank told her. He leaned forward and pulled her into him. "A kiss for luck?"

Nancy sighed as she ran her hands over his muscular, bare chest and around his neck. Was there anything sexier than Frank in jeans without his shirt on? "You don't even have to ask," she murmured, bringing her lips close to his.

Frank covered her mouth with his own and kissed her deeply as he tightened his hold around her waist. She felt him groan a moment later as he reluctantly pulled away. "Let's finish this later, when we're out of this hell hole."

Nancy kissed his neck and whispered, "You can count on it," before she let him go.

OOOoooOOO

Joe stepped out into the blinding noonday sunshine and began searching the yard of the Brookings' farmhouse with a sense of desperation. _Where were they?_ He knew Nancy and his brother were here. He knew it. He could feel it. _Damn it, had Jamie gotten to them, too? _

He stepped over onto the gravel driveway and scanned the area. Nothing. As he turned, something glinting in the sunlight caught his eye. He quickly walked over to the shiny object and bent down to retrieve it. A woman's wristwatch. He turned it over. 'Happy 21st, Nancy. Love, Dad.' Bingo.

Joe pocketed the watch and began looking more earnestly. On the other side of the driveway, he noticed an area of overgrown grass that seemed odd to him. As Joe headed that way, he could tell it had been trampled. He followed along and realized he was hearing the faint sound of metal scraping against metal. He paused. _What the hell? _

Joe continued to move through the grass, more slowly this time, until he noticed the rusty storm cellar doors with the shiny new chain and padlock securing them closed. He stopped as he realized that's where the sound was coming from. The metal handle seemed to be moving. "Frank?" The scraping stopped, and his brother's muffled voice reached his ears.

"Joe, is that you?"

OOOoooOOO

Emily knelt down next to her Uncle Ed to apply more pressure to his wound. "Check on Jake," she ordered Jamie.

Jamie turned her attention from the back door where Tim had just exited to Jake, who was moaning softly on the floor. "Is he going to make it?"

"I think so. If that ambulance would hurry and get here." Emily looked at Jamie. "Didn't you see Frank and Nancy? I think they were going to your place to try to phone for help."

Jamie shook her head. "No. But I wasn't at my place. I just came from town."

"Then did you see Joe when you drove back this way?" Emily's voice was hopeful.

"No, I'm sorry. No sign of Joe anywhere."

Emily's shoulders drooped and her head bowed. If something had happened to him she didn't know what she'd do.

Jamie brushed her hand over Jake's forehead and spoke again. "So, did you see who did this? Anyone you can tell the sheriff to look for?"

"No." Emily sighed. "It all happened so fast." Although it had seemed like slow motion to her when it was going on.

"Who is that?" Jamie whispered, pointing to the body of Bob Matthews.

"Some guy from the county, I think." Emily shuddered. "What a horrible thing to have happen. What kind of a sicko would just start shooting people in cold blood?"

Jamie's mouth tightened. "I don't know. I guess someone who was pushed too far. I'm not sure I'd use the term 'sicko.'"

"I would," Emily said, unable to stop the anger from creeping into her voice. "It's just a land deal, for heaven sakes. This kind of reaction definitely proves the person behind all this is psychotic."

"Spoken like a true city girl," Jamie snapped. "You have no idea how important land is around here, or how stubborn folks can be about it. Maybe this is the only thing that could be done. Maybe it's the only way this person could get everyone's attention. Maybe..."

What on earth? Emily's skin began to crawl as she watched Jamie take a deep breath and carefully school her features before she continued speaking.

"You're an outsider, Emily. You don't know how it is."

"Perhaps," Emily replied somewhat warily. "But outsider or not, I know violence isn't the answer to this, or any other problem. What happened here won't affect the land deal. That will be decided in the courts, most likely. So, whoever is responsible for this accomplished nothing. Oh. Except for the murder and attempted murder charges."

Jamie stared at Emily, pinning her with her gaze. "Unless the person responsible for this is never found out. Because there won't be any witnesses alive to tell about it."

Realization dawned on Emily like a cold splash of water hitting her squarely in the face. She knew it was Jamie. She knew it like she knew her own name. And she was alone with her. Emily paused, trying to calm herself down before she spoke.

"I hope that's not true, Jamie," she said. She pointed toward the kitchen window. "I know he's out there somewhere. The guy who did this. I only hope Sheriff Payne can find him before he hurts anyone else." She watched as Jamie visibly relaxed.

"Yeah," Jamie mumbled. "Let's hope so."

OOOoooOOO

Frank turned from the handle he'd been trying to loosen with the wrench to look at his girlfriend. "Nan? Did you hear that? I think Joe's out there."

He saw Nancy sway slightly as she came closer to him. "Nan? Honey, are you okay?"

Frank dropped the wrench and jumped down the ladder, grabbing her just as she slumped into him.

"Fr-Frank? I don't feel so good," she murmured, right before she lost consciousness.

"Damn it!" He laid her gently on the ground and hurried up the ladder, pounding on the metal door as hard as he could. "Joe? Joe, let us out, please! Nancy's hurt. Joe!"

The door began to move from the other side and he heard his brother's voice calling his name. "Frank, is that you?"

"Yes. Get us out of here. It's Jamie. She's trying to poison us. She's got dry ice down here and Nan just passed out. She must have been the one that drove into Tulsa last week to buy it."

He could feel Joe tugging hard on the door frame.

"Hang on," Joe called. "I need to find some bolt cutters or something. She has the door chained and padlocked, and I can't get it free."

"Okay, but hurry." Frank climbed down and reached for the wrench again, trying as hard as he could to loosen the handle from his side before he lost consciousness as well.


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N: **Thanks for taking time to review, zenfrodo, Caranath, Vinsmouse, Maddi, Jackie, bhar, unobtrusive and Leya! Only two more chapters after this one. Thank you for reading!

Chapter 33

Joe ran back toward the farmhouse, hoping against hope that the Brookings stored some heavy duty tools there, as well as in his outbuildings.

He looked the other way as he passed Pete's body, and noticed a shed located in what could be considered the backyard of the house. He hurried toward it and tugged on the handle. It was locked.

Frustration raging through him, he backed up and kicked the wooden door as hard as he could. The hinges loosened. He stepped back and repeated his kick, successfully knocking the door askew in its frame. Reaching up, he gave it a good yank, and tore it open on the hinged side.

He stole inside, seeing mostly yard equipment stored haphazardly throughout the small structure. _What are the odds I'm going to find a bolt cutter? _He began searching through the equipment stored there. Not seeing what he was looking for, he grabbed a rather substantial looking hacksaw. This would have to work.

OOOoooOOO

Frank, not having any luck with a corroded wrench on a rusty screw, climbed down the ladder and scooped Nancy into his arms. "Nan?" He shook her gently. "Nan, sweetheart, wake up." He held her over his shoulder as he ascended the ladder again. Trying to balance, he positioned her near a crack in the metal door, where a tiny bit of light was piercing through in a thin sliver. "Come on, baby. Breathe in some oxygen. Please."

OOOoooOOOO

"Frank? I found a hacksaw," Joe called as he arrived at the storm cellar. "Hang on, I'll have you out of there in a minute."

"Hurry, Joe. Nan's still unconscious, and I'm not feeling that great myself." Frank's voice was muffled, but Joe could sense the urgency in it.

He knelt down and examined the lock and chain. Feeling like he would have more luck with the chain, he chose one of the links and began sawing vigorously. The blade slipped once and gave Joe a nice gash on his finger. Swearing, he repositioned it and began sawing again, finally breaking through the link. Twisting and tugging on the metal, he managed to separate the link he'd cut through from the others, and quickly unwound the chain from the door handles.

Sliding the rusty metal bar back, he flung open the door and saw Frank sagging heavily against the ladder, struggling to hold onto Nancy.

Joe reached down and grabbed Nancy, pulling her out of the storm cellar and placing her on the ground. He reached back to steady Frank as he dragged himself through the opening and collapsed onto the grass. "You all right?" Joe shouted.

Frank held his hand up. "Give me a minute," he said, breathing heavily as he sat up and rested his hands on his knees. "Check Nan."

Joe knelt down next to her and pressed two fingers against her neck. "Strong pulse," he called out. He bent forward and felt her warm breath against his cheek. "She's breathing okay."

Frank nodded. "I want her to see a doctor."

Joe stood up. "Let me get the truck. I called for help. There should be an ambulance at Ed and Susan's by now."

"It was Jamie, you know."

"I know," Joe nodded grimly as he ran for the truck. When he reached the vehicle, he could hear the phone ringing in the farmhouse. Joe sighed, then ran ahead to answer it, thinking it might be Sheriff Payne. When he picked up, Tim's voice reached him.

"Joe, is that you?"

"Yeah. Where are you calling from?"

"The cabin. I just came from the house. Listen, have you sent for an ambulance? Because nobody's here yet."

"Sheriff Payne told me one was on the way."

Tim sighed. "It might take awhile. They'd have to send it from the next city. Was the sheriff coming to the ranch?"

"He said he was. Is Emily okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine. Ed's hurt though, but I think he and Jake can hang on. We got the bleeding stopped. And Jamie Brookings showed up. She stayed at the house with Em."

Joe's heart dropped to his feet. "Did you just say Jamie Brookings was there?"

"Yeah, why?"

"It's her, Tim. She did this. She killed her own father, then locked Nancy and Frank up and tried to kill them, too."

"Oh, damn it, Joe! You're kidding?"

"Is she alone with Emily?" Joe's voice was tense.

"I'm headed back there now."

Joe heard the receiver clatter to the ground over the extension. He hung up and dashed into the truck, fear gripping him. He felt his breath coming harder and faster as he reached Frank and a still unconscious Nancy. Joe threw open the passenger side door. "Get in!" he ordered. "Jamie's in the farmhouse with Emily."

"What?" Frank asked baffled.

"Just get the hell in," Joe urged. "I don't have time."

Frank put Nancy in the cab, then jumped up into the passenger seat, and struggled to shut the door while Joe peeled off down the driveway.

OOOoooOOO

Tim dashed back to the farmhouse at top speed. When he made it to the lawn area he paused, trying to catch his breath so as not to appear panicked.

He dashed up the back steps, and using his own set of keys, quickly unlocked the door and entered the kitchen. Jamie turned and looked at him, obviously startled.

"Tim, what are you doing back? I thought you went to get help."

"They're just about here," he said, eyeing her warily. "Where's Emily?"

"She went upstairs to get more towels," Jamie gestured. "Ed's still losing a lot of blood."

"Emily!" Tim bellowed.

She appeared at the top of the stairs. "Is the ambulance here?"

"Almost, darlin'." He walked up to meet her and took the towels from her hands, speaking in a low voice. "I want you to head into the parlor and go right out the front door, understand me?"

She stared at him, a puzzled expression on her face.

"Just do it."

She nodded and headed down the stairs and into the parlor.

"Where are you going, Emily?" Jamie asked.

She hesitated. "My uncle keeps another first-aid kit in the cellar. I think we need it."

Sirens began to sound in the distance as Tim descended the stairs into the kitchen.

"Well," Jamie began cheerfully. "Looks like help has arrived. I'd better get going. I'm worried about my dad. He got some threatening phone calls this morning, and I need to make sure he's all right."

Tim strode purposefully toward her, not saying anything.

"The calls were pretty bad," she continued. "I'm really worried about him."

"Are you Jamie?" Tim asked. "Because that's not what Joe just told me five minutes ago."

Jamie's eyes widened.

"Yeah," Tim nodded, grabbing her arm. "I talked to him. He rescued Frank and Nancy from wherever you imprisoned them. You're not going anywhere."

Jamie spun suddenly toward him, her free arm knocking him in the head with a saucepan she grabbed from the counter.

Stunned, Tim loosened his grip slightly, and Jamie took the opportunity he gave her to pull out a pistol she'd kept hidden under her flannel shirt.

"Don't move Carlson," she hissed.

Tim stumbled slightly, his vision blurring. He looked across the room and saw Emily entering the kitchen. _Damn it. Why didn't she go outside?_

"Oh, no," Emily whispered. "Jamie, no."

OOOoooOOO

Joe sprayed gravel as he slid down the driveway to the farmhouse at top speed. He slammed on the brakes, knocking Frank, who was holding Nancy, forward. Frank braced them with his open hand against the dashboard. "Joe, calm down," he ordered. "You're not going to help anyone if you're out of control."

Joe threw open the driver's door. "I don't have time, Frank. You saw what she did. She shot her own father in the head." He jumped down from the truck. "What do you think she's going to do to Emily? She already doesn't like her."

Frank eased Nancy, who was starting to regain consciousness, onto the seat as he opened the passenger door and exited the pickup. "Let's just think for a minute. We can't storm the place. If Jamie has Emily, doing that will put her in more danger."

Joe sighed. "You're right. I'll go in the back entrance, and you take the front door."

Frank nodded. "Don't charge in. Try and see what's going on first."

"I'm not an idiot, Frank." Joe was irritated. "I'm not going to risk anything happening to Em."

OOOoooOOO

Emily watched as both Tim and Jamie turned to look at her. Jamie smiled and Tim's eyes grew wide.

"Get out of here, Emily. Now," he ordered.

"I don't think so," Jamie said. "I think you'd better stay right where you are, Emily. Or I'll blow his head off."

She meant it. Emily knew she meant it. Jamie was flat out insane. "No," Emily whispered. "Jamie, don't. Please. This won't help anything."

The wail of the sirens became louder as they got closer to the farmhouse.

"Listen to her, Jamie," Tim said. "You think Sheriff Payne is going to let you get away with this?"

Jamie shook her head. "No. No, this is the only way."

"Jamie, you've blown this whole thing way out of proportion," Emily said. "Stop now, before you make it worse."

Jamie's eyes were glazed as she stared at Emily. "Worse, Emily? How could it possibly be any worse? I killed my father when he tried to stop me." Tears began to run down her face. "I killed my own father. Killing Tim isn't going to make this worse."

Emily began shaking and she took a deep breath to steady herself. Be strong, she told herself. You just need to buy some time. The police are almost here. "Your father wouldn't want you to do this. Let Tim go."

"I can't do that." She pressed the gun into Tim's temple even harder. "He'll stop me if I do. I can't let him do that. I can't." She cocked the gun.

OOO

Joe snuck quietly around to the back of the farmhouse, crawling slowly up the four steps that led to the small back porch. Tim had left the main door open when he burst inside, and only the screen door separated Joe from what was taking place in the kitchen.

He eased himself along the porch until he could stand without being noticed by anyone in the house. Pressing himself flat against the white painted siding, he listened.

OOO

Frank surveyed the front of the farmhouse and noticed the door was closed tightly. He sighed. _Opening that would be like setting off fireworks. Everyone inside would hear me coming._

He ran his hands through his hair while he thought of his options. As he looked across the expansive front porch, he noticed a curtain fluttering in one of the windows. Ascending the steps slowly, he realized the window was wide open in what was Susan's sewing room. _That's it. That's how I'm getting in._

OOO

Joe could hear Emily's voice pleading with Jamie. He leaned his head back against the house. _Damn._

He proceeded slowly toward the door, able to see into the room out of the corner of his eye. Tim and Jamie were facing away from him. He could clearly see the gun Jamie was holding against Tim's temple. Joe exhaled and looked past them, hoping to see a sign of Frank approaching from the parlor.

OOO

Frank eased up the sash and stepped carefully through the window and onto the armchair Susan had placed next to it to catch the light while she was sewing. He maneuvered his body through the small opening, landing silently in a heap on the chair cushion. Thank heavens it wasn't a wooden chair.

Gingerly stepping down, he tiptoed toward the main door to the room. It was halfway open, and rather than risk squeaking hinges, he turned sideways and slid through. Stepping into the parlor, he moved noiselessly toward the kitchen. He could see Emily from his position and prayed she wouldn't startle if she caught sight of him.

OOO

Emily thought Jamie seemed to be getting more agitated as the sirens drew closer to the farmhouse. When she could hear the tires of the vehicles grinding to a halt in the gravel, she saw Jamie begin to panic.

"Come on, Jamie, give up," Tim said. "If you surrender, they'll go easier on you."

Emily tried to stop her voice from wavering. She was worried for Tim. Jamie was so unstable. Emily could see it in her eyes. They looked almost feral, and she knew anything might cause her to pull that trigger. She needed to try to get her to snap out of this weird almost trance-like state she was in. But how?

"You don't want to do this," Emily said. "This isn't you." She saw a brief movement in the parlor out of the corner of her eye and knew help had arrived. She wanted that gun away from Tim's head, because if a police officer stepped into view, she was afraid Jamie would fire. "Please, Jamie. I know your mother wouldn't want this."

Emily wasn't disappointed in the reaction she got.

"My mother?" Jamie's eyes grew fiery. "What the hell do you know about what my mother would want? If she were here, she'd probably shoot my dad herself."

Her gaze locked onto Emily's and she held it with an intensity that made Emily's knees weak. "My mother hated the ranch," she spat out. "Hated it. With every bone in her body. But did my father care? Would he sell it to make her happy? No! Instead, he watched her slowly unravel and die a long and torturous death. She died of a broken heart, you know."

Jamie's eyes misted over. "And nobody in this community gave a damn. Nobody cared whether she was happy or not."

Emily saw the screen door opening slowly and forced herself to focus on Jamie's face while Joe entered the room. She felt someone approaching from the parlor and knew it was Frank. "That's not true, Jamie. Everyone here loved your mother." Emily's own voice sounded odd to her. Like it was coming from far away.

"Liar!" Jamie hissed. "You're all liars. Every damn one of you! And I'm going to make you all sorry."

"Now!" Joe shouted as he dove for Tim. Frank grabbed Emily and pulled her down to ground, rolling with her into the parlor.

"Get behind the recliner," he ordered. "And don't move!"

OOO

Frank ran into the kitchen and into the middle of a scuffle between Joe and Jamie for the gun. Jamie, still hanging onto the weapon, crawled into a corner of the room and held it out in front of her, waving it wildly between Frank, Joe and Tim. "Stay back!" she screamed.

"No!" Joe held up his hands. "No, Jamie, don't do it!"

Sheriff Payne and his men burst into the house through the front and back doors.

The gun went off.


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N: **Thanks for the reviews, Caranath, unobtrusive, bhar, Maddi, zenfrodo, Jackie, leya, Vinsmouse and Kenna! They were so fun to read! This is the last chapter and then there will be an epilogue to follow that. Thanks so much for sticking with it!

Chapter 34

Emily strained at the silence she heard coming from the kitchen. Shaking, she crawled along the floor, just as the deputies ran past her from the front door and into the next room. She heard one of them utter a loud expletive and her heart began to pound. Someone had been shot. She'd heard the gun go off. _Joe…please don't let it be Joe. _

She crept to the coffee table, pulled herself up and was just about to go through the plaster archway, when Frank reached her. "No, Emily. You can't go in there. You can't see..." he paused.

Her eyes grew huge and filled with tears instantly. "I-is it Joe?"

"Oh, no. No, sweetie. Joe's fine." He hugged her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you."

"Tim?" she whispered.

"No, Tim's fine, too." He held her back from him and sighed. "Jamie took her own life."

Emily dropped her head and began sobbing. "She was in so much pain, Frank. Why didn't we see it?"

"I don't know," he answered honestly.

She looked up as Joe pushed by the deputies and EMTs who'd taken over the kitchen and headed straight for her.

"Thank God you're all right," he said, taking her in his arms, as Frank walked toward the front door.

Emily felt her knees buckle as the stress of the afternoon caught up with her. Held firmly in Joe's embrace, she finally felt safe, and as all the emotions she'd held in check bubbled to the surface, she began shaking uncontrollably.

Joe hugged her more tightly and kissed the top of her head. "Let's get out of here," he said, guiding her toward the front door and out onto the porch. He walked her down the steps and over to the pickup truck, where Emily saw Frank helping a still woozy, but conscious Nancy, out of the front seat.

"I want her examined," Frank explained to them as he made his way over to one of the ambulances.

Joe nodded and led Emily over to a patch of grass still warm from the late afternoon sunshine. He sat down and pulled her onto his lap.

Emily sniffled as she watched the EMTs take Jake and her uncle out of the house and load them into the waiting emergency vehicles. "He has to be okay, Joe," she said, staring after her uncle. "I don't know what my aunt will do if he's not."

He kissed her temple. "He's getting the help he needs, honey. I'm sure he'll be fine."

Sheriff Payne approached them. "Are you okay?" he asked Emily, as he looked down at her blood stained clothing.

She nodded. "My uncle?"

"They think he'll be fine, although he may need surgery," he explained. "You all did a great job with the first-aid in there."

"How about Jake?" Joe asked. "I was worried we might have left the tourniquet on too long."

"Nope, he's stable. If you want to call the hospital in Tulsa in a few hours, after they get them settled, I'm sure they'll be able to give you a full report." He sighed. "I'm goin' to have to ask you all for statements, you know."

Joe nodded. "Have you gone to the Brookings' ranch?"

"Sent a few men over there," he said. "Thought I'd wrap up one crime scene before I head to the next."

"She was so messed up," Emily said softly, trying hard not to start crying again. "None of this had to happen."

"She was mentally ill," Sheriff Payne said. "I don't know if there's anything we could have done, Em, so I don't want you worrying yourself about it none, you hear?"

She nodded.

"When you murder three people in cold blood, one of them your own father, and then commit bodily injury to four others, a good talking to from a friend wouldn't have been enough to change anything," the sheriff continued.

"_Four_ others?" she asked.

"She locked Nancy and Frank in an old storm cellar with dry ice to try and kill them," Joe explained.

Emily's mouth dropped.

"Yeah." The sheriff shook his head. "I don't even know where she came up with that little trick."

Emily looked up at Joe. "Are they all right?"

"Nancy passed out, but I think she's fine," Joe reassured her.

"Well, listen you two. I'm going to finish up my work here," Sheriff Payne said. "Then I'll meet you in your cabin. Stay out of the house until we get our evidence and, er, clean up. It's a crime scene until we release it."

"You don't have to worry about that," Emily told him with a shudder. She wasn't sure she wanted to go in her aunt's kitchen ever again.

OOOoooOOO

Several hours later, Emily hung up the phone in the cabin and turned to Frank, Nancy and Joe, who were seated around the fireplace, looking at her expectantly. "They're both going to be okay," she said with a smile, as she made her way over to the leather sofas. She sat down next to Joe and he hugged her.

"That's great news, baby."

"Yeah, now I can stop worrying so much. It's been a very long day." But she was definitely relieved. Her aunt could come home without worrying and things would eventually get back to normal around here.

"You can say that again," Nancy chimed in. She shook her head. "I can't believe I was poisoned on this case...twice. And in the same way both times."

Frank chuckled. "Yeah, and think, when Em told us about this, we thought it was just going to be a simple case of vandalism."

"It's really sad, you know," Joe began, leaning his head back against the sofa. "I wonder if Mr. Brookings knew how many problems Jamie had?"

"That's something I guess we'll never know," Frank said quietly.

"Was he really all those things Jamie accused him of being?" Nancy asked.

"I never saw it," Emily said. "Of course, sometimes people are one way in public and another behind closed doors."

The conversation was interrupted by a knock on the cabin door. Tim Carlson stuck his head in. "Sorry, I hope I'm not intruding."

Emily smiled at him. "Of course not. Come on in and join us."

"No, that's okay." Tim cleared his throat. "I was really wondering if I might speak with Joe for a minute."

Joe eased himself off the couch. "Sure." He walked to the front door and stepped outside after Tim.

"Wonder what that's all about?" Nancy looked at Frank, who shrugged his shoulders.

Emily bit her lip. "I hope they don't start fighting again."

OOOoooOOO

"Hey, listen," Tim began. "I wanted to thank you...for saving my life."

"You're welcome," Joe replied. "I don't think I saved your life though."

"You did. You distracted Jamie." Tim paced along the slate path in front of the cabin. "If you and Frank hadn't charged in there, who knows what she would've done when the police came. She was as unstable as a keg of dynamite."

"I need to thank you, too," Joe told him. "You went back in the house to help Emily. If she'd been alone with Jamie..."

"I wouldn't have let that happen, Joe," Tim assured him quietly.

Joe looked him straight in the eyes. "I know. Thank you."

Tim leaned a hand against the cabin. "I owe you an apology. When you first got here and I knew you were with Emily..." He shook his head and grinned at Joe. "I thought she was making a huge mistake. I thought you were a cocky, pretty boy from the city who wasn't half good enough for her. I was wrong."

"Apology accepted." Joe grinned back. He'd been wrong, too. Tim really did care for Emily. And Joe couldn't blame him for wanting to try and win her over. "I'm sorry, too. For everything."

Tim waved his hand. "I deserved it. I hit on her. Repeatedly." He paused and looked at Joe. "Are you planning on marrying her?"

"Asking my intentions?"

"Yep."

Joe chuckled. "Yes, I'm going to marry her."

Tim nodded as Frank stepped through the cabin door. "Everything okay out here?"

"Emily sent you, didn't she?" Joe asked with a smile. He knew his girlfriend too well.

Frank bent his head and laughed. "Yeah. She's worried."

"Well, I don't want to stress her out any more after the day she's had," Tim said. He reached his hand out to Joe who shook it. "Thanks again."

Joe nodded.

"You folks going to be hanging around here for a bit longer?"

"I think so," Frank said. "We have a little more time, and I'd like a chance just to relax for a couple of days."

"I know Emily won't leave until her aunt is back and she knows her uncle is going to pull through," Joe told him.

"Great." Tim smiled. "Then we'll make sure you have some fun. Starting tomorrow." He waved as he headed down the path.

Joe put his hand on Frank's shoulder as they walked back through the cabin door. "Carlson's not a bad guy, you know that?"

Frank rolled his eyes.


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N: **Thank you so much for the feedback, leya, unobtrusive, Kenna, Maddi, Jackie, zenfrodo, Caranath, Vinsmouse and bhar! I've really appreciated all of the reviews and comments, as well as the people who have taken time to read the story over the past couple of months. I have another one that is already finished, and after a bit more editing, I hope to post it in a couple of weeks. Thanks again for reading! :)

Epilogue

Joe eased himself down into the oversized leather armchair in the cabin's living room three days after they'd wrapped up the case. He'd spent the morning learning how to rope calves and he was wiped out.

"So, what do you all think?" Emily asked, as she entered the room and handed Joe a cold bottle of beer from the fridge. "Is ranch life for you?"

Frank looked up from the pile of wood he was arranging in the fire grate. "I think I could get used to it." He reached his hand back to Nancy who gave him a box of matches. "What about you, babe?"

She made a face. "I'm still sore from that trail ride Tim took us on yesterday." She collapsed onto the sofa with a deep sigh. "I'm afraid I'm a confirmed city slicker."

Emily laughed as she slid onto Joe's lap and wrapped her arms around his neck. "And what about you?"

Joe shrugged. "I could go either way. But I think this ranch is probably a little remote for a private detective. I wouldn't want to spend all my days chasing chicken thieves."

Frank stood and dusted his hands off on his jeans. "I wouldn't exactly describe what we just did out here as 'chasing chicken thieves.'"

"No, but I'll bet that's the most excitement they've had around here in a long time." Joe placed his feet on the ottoman in front of him as he drew Emily in closer. "I think this is a great place to come for a little relaxation though."

Frank sat next to Nancy and rested his arm across the back of the sofa as she snuggled into him. "Definitely. I think your aunt and uncle are going to have lots of guests wanting to play cowboy for a week or so when she gets these cabins finished."

Joe snorted. "Yeah, and I'm sure they're going to love being told that the guys have to sleep on the couches while the women take the beds."

Emily gave him a playful swat. "She only did that because she feels responsible for me. And now that you and Frank have saved several lives and the ranch...I think she just may allow you to take a liberty or two where I'm concerned."

Joe raised an eyebrow as he sipped his beer. "And just exactly what does that mean?"

Frank laughed. "Don't get your hopes up, Joe. I doubt it means you can shower together."

"Well of course it does." Emily giggled. "As long as we're both fully clothed."

The front door to the cabin opened amidst the laughter and Susan stepped inside.

"Oh, I'm glad to hear you're all having fun," she said with a smile. "I was just stopping in to invite you to a little homecoming party for Ed and Jake tomorrow. The hospital called and they're being discharged."

Emily stood and went to hug her aunt. "That's wonderful news."

"It is, isn't it?" Susan sniffled. "And I'm just so grateful to you and your friends, Emily. Who knows what would have happened if you hadn't come out here. Jamie might have..." She stopped, overcome with emotion.

Joe smiled. This was all more than Susan could've handled by herself. He was glad Emily could be here for her. She'd been a rock for her aunt, and Joe was proud of her.

Emily patted her aunt on the back. "It's all right, Aunt Susan. It's all over now."

Susan nodded and quickly wiped at her tears. "I know and I'm okay. Really. I just wanted you all to know how grateful Ed and I are for what you did."

"It was our pleasure," Frank said, standing. "And we want to thank you for allowing us to use your beautiful cabin. The past few days have been a lot of fun."

Susan smiled. "I'm glad to hear it. You're all welcome to stay as long as you like. I wish you could stay the whole summer, as a matter of fact." She looked at Emily wistfully. "Just like when you were a little girl."

Joe moved over next to Emily. "You know, I'd love to see some photos from Em's summers here. Do you have any?"

Susan's eyes lit up. "Oh, I do. Lots, as a matter of fact. I'll get them out for the party." She squeezed Emily's hand. "I'd better get going, dear. I have so much to do."

"Okay, Aunt Susan. "I'll be up to help you in the morning."

Susan nodded as she turned to go, then stopped and looked at her niece. She lowered her voice. "Just so you know, I think that in light of everything that's happened, it would be all right if he..." She glanced at Joe. "Bought the cow on a layaway plan...so to speak."

Emily's mouth fell open.

"Well, after all dear, times are different now." She patted Emily's hand and smiled at Joe as she headed for the door.

"What was that all about?" Joe asked, as Susan stepped onto the porch. "I don't want to buy a cow."

"Buy a cow?" Nancy piped up. "Oh my gosh, did Susan just say Joe could 'have the milk for free?'" She burst out laughing. "Hannah uses that expression all the time."

Emily finally found her voice. "Not in so many words, but I think that's what she meant. She said he could 'buy the cow on layaway.'"

"Layaway?" Nancy choked as she continued laughing. "That is priceless."

"What on earth are you two talking about?" Frank looked baffled.

Joe wondered that, too. One thing was certain, though. He wasn't becoming a rancher and he wanted no part of owning livestock. Cows smelled bad.

Nancy sighed as she leaned back against the sofa. "Oh, basically Susan just gave Emily a free pass to have sex with Joe."

"What?" Joe was startled. "I must have missed that."

"Trust me on this one." Nancy giggled.

Joe shot Emily a wicked grin as he reached for her hand. "I'll take your word for it, Nan."

"Does that permission apply to us, too?" Frank asked.

"I don't think you need her permission, honey, you're twenty-three years old. But yes, I suspect it does." Nancy smiled. "You and Joe saved her husband's life."

"And to the victor belongs the spoils," Joe called out as he and Emily headed to the bedroom. "See you...next week."

Emily laughed. "Well, in time for the party anyway."

OOO

Frank turned to Nancy as Joe shut the bedroom door. "I think I saw a bottle of wine in the fridge."

"And there is that hot tub we haven't used yet." She sighed. "You know, I think I might actually like living on a ranch now."

Frank raised his eyebrows. "Yeah? Well, hang on little filly, because you are about to have the ride of your life."

THE END


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